Better Than Revenge
by iKatnissStarkWestoftheFlock
Summary: After so much hurt inside, Rachel decides that maybe McKinley hasn't been treating her that right. One day, she called everyone on their bluff and announced she was leaving to be the star of Aural Intensity. Will they realize how much they hurt her?
1. Better Than Them

_**Better Than Revenge**_

**AN:** If you're one of my iCarly/Percy Jackson/WOWP readers, then you will be, without a doubt, probably annoyed with my fanfic overload and probably think that I've abandonned my old stories. BUT HAVE NO FEAR! I haven't abandonned ANYTHING despite what some people may think. Anyways, this is my first Glee fic. It's full on Puckleberry, with some mentions of Tartie/Brittana/Klaine, one sided Finchel and 'Glee girls' friendship.

So yeah, not much Puckleberry here, but our special guest here plays an important part in this story, so yeah..

* * *

_"We only pretend to like you..."_

_"We only pretend to like you..."_

_"**Pretend **to like you..."_

Those words kept on coming in Rachel's mind. She wasn't able to think of anything else, except perhaps the exception of the occasional scene of her and Finn's breakup coming to her head from time to time, but those words cut her close to the heart. Even when she was at a Starbucks with a non-fat caramel latte, with so many people talking, the noise of the coffee grinder and the little bleeps from those with their computers, Rachel only heard those words and nothing else. As she clutched her favorite latte, she barely even touched it...She was just staring into nothing, thinking. And just when Rachel thought Glee club was actually starting to like her...But that was foolish of her to think. Few people in her life liked her because she wasn't exactly friendly, but Rachel accepted that fact. She accepted the fact that for the next years in high school, she wouldn't be the most popular girl with tons of friends on MySpace.

But when the glee clubbers came, Rachel saw a little light, and a ray of hope, that long after people would see her on Broadway, people from McKinley wouldn't go 'Ah, isn't that Rachel Berry, the friendless Broadway geek at my old school?'. They would say, 'Ah, Rachel Berry, star of the Glee club...They were really close' and smile remembering their friendship. But of course, as these things tend to do, when you get pride, it always leads to downfall.

Rachel knew some people didn't pretend. Finn didn't. Puck didn't. And as of now, Kurt didn't. But Rachel guesses that now Finn does. But it never occured to Rachel that things haven't changed, from being the girl she was a few years back to being the girl she was now. People still couldn't stand her. Maybe a few did now, but very few. She didn't know what to do at a time like this.

At a time when she realizes the 'friends' she had on glee never cared about her...They only cared about her voice. But that's what got Rachel so worked up about these solos. She was aware she had little to give people and her voice was her treasure, her only gift, and as some led herself to believe, her only good quality. It was not her looks or her personality, but her voice. In a way, Rachel couldn't help but blame her 'friends'. If it wasn't for them talking about how annoying she is but how great her voice was, maybe she wouldn't have taken it to extremes. Did they even care about her feelings? Did they care about anything but her voice? When she had to get her tonsils taken out, did they care whether or not something would go wrong in the opperation and hurt her? No, they only cared whether it would affect her singing voice or not.

She didn't understand...Santana verbally bullies everyone from glee club, yet people like her more?

Quinn's cheated with every boyfriend she's had, but people like her more?

Throughout everything that's ever happened, the last person she'd expect to stand up for her was Noah Puckerman. Years ago, if someone were to tell Rachel that Noah Puckerman would soon become her friend...maybd her only friend, Rachel would have told them how ridiculous it sounded.

But now...it didn't seem obvious, but he was probably one of her only friends, along with her other 'divas'. But Mercedes did not stick up for her, though...

Rachel should be fine. With 'Luck' (the nickname given by the Glee club for Puck and Lauren) she was not jealous. In fact, Lauren slowly considered Rachel to be a friend.

Then again, Rachel considered most of the Glee kids her friend. But they never defended her...

Did Rachel make it all up in he head? Did she imagine her having friends? Was it all like it was a year ago?

Rachel felt she was about to cry, but she blinked fast, trying to avoid anything, 'Being talented means you're not gonna have it all, Rachel, you know that.' she told herself. She's been telling herself that for years, but she still cries over it.

'No,' she told herself, 'I am more mature than this. I do not cry over friends or loneliness...I just don't.'

"Rachel...is that you?" she heard someone say. She turned her head up to see someone she'd never expected to see before.

"Sunshine? What are you doing here? I expected you to be on Vocal Adrenaline's countless practice hours right now." Rachel said bitterly. 'Great...' she thought to herself, 'In a town with over 40,000 in population, the one girl who actually made me doubt my talent is here.'

"No, this is our break...but it an hour, we have to be back in Carmel." she explained.

"Oh." Rachel simply said, not wanting to talk.

"Is this seat taken?" Sunshine asked, looking around. Rachel noticed there were a surprising amount of people in the café. And as much as she wanted to be generous, she didn't feel like being generous to Sunshine Corazon.

"No, but I'm in a rather bad mood right now and I'd prefer that you don't sit with me." Rachel explained, nonchalantly sipping her latte. She might have lost any chance she had with befriending Sunshine, but whatever. Another girl that doesn't like her? Wouldn't be the first.

But Sunshine ignored her. She sat down with her own latte and looked at Rachel sternly, "I'll leave in 15 minutes, I promise. So...what's wrong?"

Rachel tried to ignore the fact that Sunshine basically ignored her request. She hesitated on telling her, considering the fact that she is in Vocal Adrenaline, and probably their new star since Jessie graduated, but then again, at the moment, she's felt more anger towards New Directions to care for the consequences. "The Glee club hates me." she answered.

And Sunshine, instead of answering something like 'Well, duh!' or 'And they should.' That's how a normal person would react, espescially one that got sent to a crack house by her.

But Rachel Berry was just about to find out that Sunshine Corazon was not a normal person.

"...Really? Why?" she asked innocently.

Rachel blinked, staring at the girl in disbelief. "A-Are you serious? Sunshine, look at me! I'm an annoying, concieded, abrasive, spoiled, narcissistic, competitive girl! Why wouldn't they hate me? You, of all people should know that! I sent you to a crack house!"

Sunshine raised her eyebrow at Rachel lashing out. She's never known someone like Rachel, but if experience has taught her anything, it's that girls like Rachel tend to be oblivious of their flaws and focus more on their qualities. So the Glee kids must have really hurt her if she was acting this way.

Rachel stared at Sunshine, waiting for an answer. Rachel knew Sunshine as much as Sunshine probably knew about her. She didn't know how Sunshine would react.

"Rachel, have I ever told you I was raised to be a Christian?" Sunshine asked.

Rachel blinked in confusion, "No, but what does that have to do with anything?"

"When you sent me to that crack house, I was furious. I went to my mother to vent all about it, then she told me something. To put myself in your shoes. If I was the best at something, and that was one of my only qualities, no offense, I would, too, work hard to make sure I was the ONLY best at that. What you did was sort of an exageration of what I would have done, but God teaches us to forgive. And that's exactly what I feel torwards you." Sunshine explained.

"...Wow." Rachel said. For the whole time she's met Sunshine, Sunshine always seemed to be the shy type. But now she practically told her everything she needed to know: that though Sunshine was a rival to her singing, she was a forgiving person.

"I'm...speechless." Rachel noted to herself, then she turned to Sunshine, "Thank you."

"For what?" Sunshine asked.

"For forgiving me. I know that's not easy to do." Rachel smiled slightly. Sunshine smiled back.

"For all it's worth, I think you're an amazing singer." Sunshine gushed.

"Oh, well, I wouldn't say amazing...But I have heard people say I sound like an angel sent from heaven." Rachel said 'modestly', "And I have to admit...though it kills me, you are an amazing performer too."

"Maybe...but I saw a video of you performing in Regionals last year. I could never pull off the emotions you had when you sang." Sunshine admitted.

"Maybe so, but that's only because you haven't had my years of training." Rachel replied, oblivious to the fact that she was being snobby again. but Sunshine found it kinda funny, and laughed slightly, "Probably." she said.

"So...why's the Glee club mad at you?" Sunshine asked.

"...Well, nothing new...It's just that me and Finn broke up and I found out Santana's been romantically involved with him last year, and he lied to me about it. And Santana told me that everyone in Glee only pretends to like me." Rachel said sadly, staring at her cup the whole time.

"Oh...well, think about it this way: this girl, Santana, if she was 'romantically involved' with Finn last year, then wouldn't it be natural that she'd try and rub it on your face and make you more upset by telling you the other Glee kids only pretend?" Sunshine said wisely.

"Yes, but when she was saying these things, nobody tried to stop her. It was as if they formed an Anti-Rachel club and Santana was their leader and spokeswoman...You should have seen them, Sunshine, they were like the audience and Santana was their performer, publically bashing me, and Mr Shuester didn't even care." Rachel said, her voice suddely breaking at the memory. She didn't notice her eyes started to get all blurry and blinked back any tears that might have been threatening to fall.

Sunshine didn't know what to say. She didn't know Rachel that much, and she was witnessing Rachel pour her heart out, and nearly crying about it.

"Well, it's been 15 minutes, I assume you need to leave?" Rachel squeaked. Sunshine looked at her watch. She had to go, but she didn't want to.

She stood up and was about to leave, but then she took one last look at Rachel.

""For what it's worth, Rachel...I like you. And I'm not pretending." she smiled. Rachel smiled back, nodding as if to say 'Thank you'. Sunshine took out a pen, then on a napkin, wrote her number, "If you need anything, to talk or vent, just call me." she said, handing Rachel her number.

"And here's a thought: I heard your friend, Kurt, transfered schools, right? Well, if the Glee club hates you so much...then they wouldn't mind if you, I don't know..switched schools and joined another Glee club?" Sunshine suggested deviously. Rachel gasped...was this 'pep talk' all to get her into Vocal Adrenaline?

"I know what you're thinking. No, I'm not thinking of you joining Vocal Adrenaline because I know no matter how much you hate your Glee club, you probably will never join us. But I heard Aural Intensity's looking for a new star...I heard they've got moves but not very good at singing. Just a thought..." Sunshine added with a smile before waving goodbye.

Rachel stared in thin-air, wide-eyed, still not believing what just happened. She didn't know Sunshine was so devious. But...she had a point. Should she or shouldn't she?

Before she even considered it, she had to talk to someone who's had the experience: Kurt.


	2. Better Than McKinley

AN: so I read that Westvale High (aka Aural Intensity) is in Fort Wayne. That's pretty freaking far from Lima. So I'm just gonna pretend Westvale is in Lima. After all...how would Sue coach the glee club if it's all the way in Fort Wayne!

"So wait, you wanna what?" Kurt asked in disbelief.

Yesterday, he got a text from Rachel to meet him at the café they liked to go to, saying it was urgent. At first, he thought that Rachel was probably being overdramatic, as usual, but he still went (no connections to any desire to brag his brains out about Blaine, no siree...).

At first, Rachel asked how has transfering been for Kurt, who just replied it was the most amazing thing that's ever happened to him (Of course, he may be biased because, well, if Blaine wasn't there...). Then Rachel dropped the bomb. You can probably guess how surprise he was when Rachel Berry announced that she wanted to be in Aural Intensity.

"Rachel, have you gone mad? Last year, you called Aural Intensity talentless and not worthy of stepping on the same stage as you! Now you're telling me that you wanna join them? How are you even gonna go there?" Kurt was bombarded with so many questions that he didn't know which one to begin with, but then one popped in his mind, "Why would you even want to join them?"

Rachel bit her lip. She wasn't sure how to explain this to Kurt. After all, before they became close friends, Rachel distinctly remembers Kurt going against her, too, complaining about how she had too many solos and calling her irritating. But despite that, when they actually became friends. She didn't want to give that up. Would he think her reason for leaving is irrational? Would he judge her badly? Would he accuse her of not caring?

"Look, to answer your questions, yes you heard me right! Rachel Berry is going to Aural Intensity and I am aware of their lack of vocal talent, which is why as soon as I hop on board, I plan to coach them immediatly, and with my vocal coaching, and their already great dance steps, it should go perfectly. And since Ms Sylvester's their coach, it should be no problem getting me on board. Plus, I've already convinced my fathers. They were upset to think that their young ingenue was having difficulties at this school so they accepted. Whatever is best for me, they said." she explained.

"Still doesn't answer my last question, Rachel. Why would you even leave New Directions?" Kurt asked again.

"Look, I'm aware this is coming unexpectedly, and at the worst time possible considering New Directions is going up against Aural Intesity, and I fought against the idea, then I made a Pros and Cons list, then I asked some professionals what they think of the idea. I asked Ms Pillsbury, I asked my Dads, and now...I'm asking you, considering the fact that you, yourself, have transfered due to bullying, I would think you woul-"

"Wait...you're being bullied? By who?" Kurt asked curiously. Normally, if one of the clan was getting bullied, they would all stand up for that person. And Finn's never mentioned her getting bullied.

"...By everyone, Kurt." she replied, looking into his eyes, which were filled with confusion. "By the Glee club, by Mr Shuester..."

"Nonesense, Rachel, they love you!" Kurt insisted. Sure, there were times when she was annoying, but they never bullied her, in his opinion.

"They love my talent, Kurt." Rachel said angrily, "They couldn't care less about me. Some things happened when you were gone, Kurt...awful things."

"You're overreacting, Rachel, you may be irritating but in no way would they hate you. And in no way would Mr Shue even dare to bully a student, it just wouldn't be right." Kurt said.

"Oh, I knew you wouldn't get it..." Rachel sighed, putting a hand on her temple, "You wouldn't know, Kurt, you haven't been around...It's unbarable. Did you know when I learned Finn was having sexual intercourse with Santana, Santana was also insulting me? And Finn did nothing. The same thing happened again in the green room...She told me everyone in Glee only pretends to like me."

Kurt thought about it for a minute. He knew Rachel was lonely. Sure, she was a diva, but well-deservingly so. She did have the voice to match a diva's. But he'd never go as far as pretending he liked her. He did actually like her, even if she was at times annoying. That was her flaw, well that, and horrible fashion sense, but hating her was overstating it.

"Come on, Rachel, I'm sure at least someone supported you." Kurt said. Rachel stared at her feet.

"Well, there was a brief moment when Santans said nobody liked me, I think Noah disagreed with her and said he kinda liked me." Rachel added.

"See? Not everyone hates you!" Kurt chirped, then immediatly cringed. The way he said it was as if he was telling a toddler 'See? He didn't die, he just broke his leg!', as if he was trying to convince himself as well as convincing her.

"Yes, they do, Kurt...you should have heard the stuff that went on. I'm so sick of being ridiculed for my flaws, as if they're so perfect! Finn may be a leader but when he does something like a true leader OTHERS push him to do it! Mercedes, Tina ad Artie claims they're my friends but they barely stick up for me! I payed Brittany to dress like me so people would be impressed and consider me a trend setter, which backfired when the Glee club's most 'innocent' member decided to tell people she invented the look herself! And Sam and Mike barely acknowledges my existence! Quinn cheats with every boyfriend she's ever had and Santana's a full out bully, as you already know! My only aly would be Puck and Lauren if they weren't so obsessed with each other! I'm sick of being alone, Kurt..." Rachel confessed.

There were two thoughts swimming in Kurt's head right now. One, how incredibly impressed he was that Rachel could explain everything without pausing to breathe, and two, the last thing she said, 'I'm sick of being alone'...the way she said it was eerily similar to how he said it when he felt alone.

This was not Rachel Barbra Berry at her overdramatic-ness, this was just plain Rachel, one of many mistreated and misunderstood bullied people on this earth that deserve more than a second chance. Looking into her eyes, Kurt could see the pain.

"...I just wanted to let you know, Kurt, that whether you support my decision or not, I am still moving to Aural Intensity. They may not have the talent New Directions has, but a chance at a fresh new start is more than enough for me." Rachel said.

Kurt sighed, "Well, I supposed I'd be a hypocrite if I said I didn't support you." he said with a smile. Rachel smiled back, and Kurt spread his arms and welcomed her into a hug.

"Can I be honest? Without you, they will have no chance at winning." Kurt grinned.

She laughed, and Kurt was glad she did. Rachel needed to laugh, he knew that. When they pulled apart, they knew they had to leave, for Rachel would have to prepare for the true challenge.

"Remember, Barbra, no one's gonna take it easy at McKinley...they don't know what it's like. They're going to be brutal." Kurt reminded.

But Rachel nodded, biting her lip slightly. Someone should have told her they were going to be more than brutal.

The next few hours would kill her. She knew what she had to do. Not talk at all. It wouldn't be easy. Rachel heard Santana had a new solo, and just the previous week, Rachel was already writing down Santana's probable flaws during her performance. Raspy voice and lack of high-range vocals and lack of any emotion were all on her list.

But she couldn't speak. Her plan for leaving McKinley was simple, yet unlike her: at the end of the Glee club meeting, she would wait until everyone leaves. Then she would calmly tell Mr Shuester she's transferring. No drama whatsoever.

Rachel debated whether she should leave with a bang, storm-outs and all, but decided that revenge is best served cold. The mere thought of seeing their faces after Aural Intensity will be enough.

The whole day, she planned to avoid people. It shoudn't be very hard, considering no one talks to her. But as she stepped into McKinley's doors for the first time for her last day, she couldn't help but picture music playing in the background, a sad music, probably accompanied by violins and a deep emotional voice like that of Celine Dion's, as if she was never going to see them again.

But the music drawed out when she saw one of her fellow Glee clubbers rushing torwards her. Noah Puckerman, who looked worried as he quickly took the young diva's wrist, "We need to talk. Now." he said.

Barely giving her the time the answer, he dragged her into the auditorium. He closed the door, and Rachel knew it was serious. Then she suddenly had a realization: did Puck know? Would he be the first to find out? Rachel gasped silently, she didn't want to see Puck's face if he knew she would leave, being aware Puck actually cares about her.

"What's wrong?" she asked innocently, though in her head, repeating a thousand times 'Please don't know...' in her head.

"...She dumped me." Puck said.

"Lauren dumped you?" Rachel repeated. She wasn't shocked, but was relieved to know he didn't know. She still had a couple of hours before he would completely disown her as a friend.

"Yeah...she said it was some guy named Drake and he's on their rival  
wrestling team so I shouldn't even bother trying to kick his ass." Puck said, looking at the floor, but muttered, still looking at the ground, "...But I'm still gonna.."

"Oh, my goodness, Noah, I-I'm sorry...I knew how much you liked her." Rachel said sympathetically. All of a sudden, she felt guilty about leaving Glee. But then again, Puck's sad face turned to his usual, annoyed face.

"Whatever...I don't need your pity." he muttered before leaving Rachel to her thoughts. She turned her head to see where the rebellious boy would go. Knowing him, he'd probably ditch school.

She sighed. She honestly wish she knew more about Noah Puckerman. One minute he seems hot, the next cold. He changes his opinion about her so many times she began to wonder if he was bipolar. But despite it all, she still feels bad. Lauren was the first girl Puck was truly interested in. He may have liked her as much as he liked Quinn.

Rachel gasped a little. Quinn Fabray...Santana Lopez...Everyone else. She was so caught up in her idea of revenge and Finn's reaction and Regionals when they see her sing the most jaw-dropping, highest, most incredible song she could find that she didn't even thought about what they would do to her now, at this moment.

She only pictured Finn's response. A mix of hurt, jealousy, anger...everything Rachel felt. He deserved it, in her opinion. But she couldn't even begin to think about how her other teammates would react. Would Mercedes accuse her of being a drama queen? Would Santana say another one of her heart-stabbing insults? Would Quinn make her so angry again she'd want to use actual physical violence? Would Tina start screaming at her?

She wouldn't be surprised if they did. Quinn's forgotten all about last year. After what she and Rachel went through, Rachel thought they could at least be respectful to one another. Or at least Quinn and Mercedes. Didn't Quinn live with her for a while? Well, now they barely talk.

What happened to Mercedes, by the way? She was just like Puck. One second, she seems to at least respect Rachel, the next, it looks like she's making fun of her and getting annoyed with her again.

And Tina...what happened to sweet, shy Tina? Before, Tina wouldn't dare utter a word against anyone. She would just shut her mouth, and whatever insult she might have had, she kept it all in her mind. Not because she was afraid to say it, but because she didn't like hurting people. Now, she hurt Rachel by calling her a liar. She even hurt Artie...

Rachel doesn't care whether Artie admits it or not. Artie felt more than what he let on for Tina. He loved her...and though he will never admit it now, he's drowning himself in Brittany's sexual pleasures to forget her. Rachel doesn't like him much anymore, either. He used to help her when she needed to videotape one of her 'music videos' but now he's turned into some...sexaholic.

Brittany...poor, sweet Brittany. As sweetly naive and adorably childish Rachel thought Brittany once was, she discovered the young Dutch may have a darker side. Brittany, like Tina, was the only girl out of the three ex-Cheerios to never insult Rachel to her face. But when she stole Rachel's idea...she could have told people 'I got it from Rachel Berry'. Would that have been so hard? No, but she chose to be surprisingly mean by telling Rachel off in front of her face and basically stealing her money. She never expected that of her, but maybe she's got it from Santana?

And Santana. Why on earth is she so mean to Rachel? Rachel never recalled to have insulted Santana once, or critisize her performances. Would it have anything to do with her constantly staring at Brittany? Would it have anything to do with the fact that Santana has been jumping from one guy to another more than usual ever since Artie and Brittany dated?

Rachel knew she had a sixth sense. And something was going on with Santana. Something sapphic, if you will. As for Sam and Mike...well, so far, they haven't breathed one word against her, but they never exactly stood up for her either.

But Rachel came slighly earlier for a reason.

Before talking to Mr Shue before Glee club starts, she had one stop to make. And no, not Figgins.

As she stepped in front of her office, Rachel felt a little bit weak. Ms Sylvester is probably the most intimidating person she's met. But Rachel wasn't that phased. She was an actress. She could look as tough and as confident as she wanted. With a smile on her face, she grabbed the papers from her bag, entered her office, and put them on her desk in front of her.

Sue was surprised. She didn't expect to see Rachel Berry here. Sure, her horoscope did say something about being pleasantly surprised today, but when it said 'surprised', she thought it meant that Katie Couric coming back and telling her she DIDN'T win loser of the year, and that they were horribly mistaken, and would gladly pay her a new hovercraft for her troubles.

"Berry, what are these?" Sue said, putting her glasses on, and clearly reading the big, brown folder written 'Rachel Barbra Berry'.

"It's my school files. Everything you need to know about me is there." Rachel said with a huge grin.

"And tell me, Streisand, what would I want with your school files? Except to burn them along with those newspapers with me in front page as Loser of the Year and make a bonfire?" Sue asked curiously.

"...I want to be in Aural Intensity." Rachel confessed.

This, no doubt, hit Sue like a bulls-eye. This had to be some sort of trick! To get Berry to spy on her Glee club!

"Listen up, Berry, as much as I admire your Streisand voice, I don't trust you or your leader very much. I refuse to trust a man who probably wakes up two hours earlier than the average human being to prepare his hair. And I refuse to trust teens nowdays, considering one of your hit songs is about fried eggs and 13-year-old drivers. If you wanna join the winning team you're gonna have to explain why."

"For...personal reasons." Rachel settled on that. But Sue would not just stand for that.

"Oh, no, Berry, if you want to be on my team, I'll need a full report on why would you join my team, which you, last year, called 'a cesspool of untalented students who should be banned from ever performing on stage' and reject your Glee club? Did Will Shuester put you up to this?" Sue asked.

"No! Of course not. I doubt Mr Shuester even knows..." Rachel started. She looked at her fingers. Should she tell her? If she knew this was simply Rachel 'overreacting', would she still let her join? Oh well...nothing to lose, right? "The Glee club treats me horribly. Even Mr Shuester has decided that every word I say is automatically ignored and silenced. And I, for one, am sick of it." Rachel stated.

Then she put her hands on her waist. Sue's eyes widened. As part of her body-language training course, she knew that whenever someone would do this, they were confident, sure of themself. She knew she meant business.

"I will not be treated like everything I say is useless anymore. I will not feel belittled by my so-called teammates. I will NOT be insulted by Santana Lopez, or ridiculed by Quinn Fabray and Finn Hudson anymore!" she said, her voice slightly yelling, "I want revenge."

The word 'revenge' caught Sue. And Rachel Berry now had the undivided attention of Sue Sylvester. "Revenge is something I can help with...so tell me, Streisand, what's your plan?" Sue asked, interested. Sue would be lying if she said she had nothing in common with Rachel. She did: people thought they were bitchy because they worked hard to get what they wanted. And Sue has known that feeling since middle school. And damn it, if some other girl was about to go for the one thing Sue wished she had done in high school, she wanted to be part of it. And if she got to see Will Shuester's hair turn catch fire from the anger fumes mixed with all that hair gel, that wouldn't be so bad either.

"My plan is to transfer to Westvale High, completely." she decided, "And join your Glee club. I also plan to help you teach Aural Intensity immediatly, because as you may well know, they lack some talent in the vocal department but I am more than happy to step in to help our lesser fortunate! And I am fully aware of how powerful you are. So if possible, I'd like to start going to Westvale immediatly tomorrow...I know you can pull some strings to get that to happen as quickly as possible."

Sue was impressed, no doubt. A highly-devious plan like this could only come from a mind of someone who's been hurt. But Sue knows she could do a plan like this. Completely shun and betray her 'friends', she was a woman capable of that. But was Rachel capable of that?

"You know, Berry, although I admire your evil mind worthy of yours truly here, if you do this, there's no turning back. That briar patch headed leader and that flock of misfits and acne factories of his won't forgive you that easily, if at all. You might lose their trust, and friendship. Are you willing to risk all that?" Sue asked, looking Rachel sternly in the eye.

She knew Rachel was serious, when she looked Sue straight in the eye and said, "I am willing to risk it all. I want the Glee club to know something very important: there is nothing I do better than revenge."

That's when Sue realized...she may have just found her new favorite student.

Ironically, she seemed to notice her two favorites, Streisand and Porcelain are the rivals of New Directions.

And now, things just gotten interesting for one Sue Sylvester.


	3. Better Than New Directions

**AN: so who's seen the finale? It was...disappointing. The only good parts were the songs. The Samcedes thing seems like a desperate attempt for people to keep watching season 3. So yeah, this season's been pretty shitty. But hey, we still have season 3. And come on...There was Puckleberry friendship in season 2, so it wasn't all bad. **

**AND I probably should have mentioned when this takes place. Somewhere between after Sectionals season 2 and before Regionals. Finchel broke up and Quam broke up too. The current couples together are: Quinn/Finn, Samtana, Bartie, Tike and...'Hill'? 'Wolly'? Whatever, but it won't stay that way...**

PS: And as for Rachel Sitting Alone, I'm assuming that's the case since we rarely see her sitting with the Glee kids.

PPPS: You're gonna see a lot of weird-ass minor couples, I swear. The only couples I can promise you are GUARANTEED to be in this story are Puckleberry, Tartie, Brittana, Wemma and Klaine. Where does Finn, Quinn, Sam, Mercedes, Mike and Sunshine fit into all this? Some will be single...well, OK one. Some will be with people you don't expect.

* * *

Will Schuester would be lying if he said he didn't see this coming. He saw it coming from the very beginning, yet for some reason, the news hit him harder probably more than it should have. When he first met Rachel, he instantly knew what kind of girl she was. A diva, a starlet, talented...but he saw some insecurity in her when he talked to her at the benches during one of the first glee rehearsals, so he told himself, 'Clearly, she's misunderstood, so I'll try my best to help her.' And he did try...but then the Emma problems came. And he thought Holly would help...he thought. And the trying stopped to a point where he completely ignored his star, even once lashing out on her when he knew she was having problems herself.

Yes, it was sad, Will realized, that he had forgotten his promise to himself to help her, and now he had to pay. The whole Glee club did. It wasn't fair.

But he didn't hear it straight from the diva's mouth, oh no...he heard it from the one person in school who knew it first, even before Figgins.

So there he was, trying to have a nice conversation with Emma, who, by the way, seemed distant and guilty, and Shannon, then Sue Sylvester came in with the biggest grin on her face and sat at a table behind theirs. And everyone noticed.

It wasn't long till Emma and Shannon gave the simuntaneous look to Will that they both smelled something fishy. So at the count of three, they both turned around to question her.

"Sue?...May I ask why you're so happy?" Emma asked, hoping she didn't know about Rachel.

"Excellent question, Esmerelda, and I'm glad you asked." Sue smirked, then fully turned her attention to them...Emma was just trying not to notice this is the third time this week Sue's called her that. "You see, it turns out I never needed to try and destroy the Glee club! It was a ticking time-bomb waiting to self destruct!" she said happily.

The three all gave each other a look, "Wait, Sue, what are you talking about?" Will asked.

"Well, William, first off, I have to tell you that a little birdie once told me that insane amounts of hair gel will result into early male pattern baldness. And I can see the beginnings of a bald patch there..." Sue said, raising her eye to Will's hair.

"Wha-?" Will started.

"Second, if you must know, your star personally came to me this morning and gave me this." Sue said, handing him a folder full of papers.

They all took a look at them, "Wait, these are that Berry girl's papers, what are you doing with them?" Shannon asked.

"Well, Céline there came up to me early this morning and announced she wanted to be in Aural Intensity. I'll admit, I smelled something fishy. But the moment I knew she wasn't kidding or a spy, I envisioned the face you'll have when you find out, and that got her in." Sue smirked.

Will's jaw dropped and Shannon was confused. Rachel Berry quit Glee club? That was crazy.

But for Emma, it all made perfect sense. She sensed it coming ever since Finn and Rachel came in with their problems. Secretly, Rachel's been coming for advice from Emma at least four times the week of her breakup, then several more times the following week. Emma saw Rachel struggle and torture herself into thinking she was this ugly girl. Despite Emma telling Rachel this was not the case, Rachel still had yet to believe it.

And when she called her at 2 AM in the morning, she can't say she was all that surprised when she announced she was leaving, and asking Emma whether it was a good idea or not. And Emma felt extremely guilty for saying it was a good idea, and encouraging Will's star.

But then again, Will Schuester hasn't been so innocent, so Emma admits that in addition to wanting what was best for Rachel, she also wanted to hurt him a little. All those moments of seeing him literally dangle his perfect relationship with Holly knowing that Carl is still angry at her ever since the whole refusing-to-be-touched thing (even angrier when he found out the only one who's ever gotten close was Will, and they weren't even married) made her want a little bit of revenge.

But now, she regrets it after seeing Will's face, which, by the way, Sue was having a field day with.

"By the way, the face I envisioned? Not as funny as the face you're making." Sue noted.

Will shook his head, "There's gotta be some mistake, she can't transfer immediatly!"

"Oh, yes, she can. You see, William, since Aural Intensity is my Glee club, she can transfer as fast as she wants to. But for some reason I don't understand, she'd rather stay at this school for the day. I talked to Figgins and her parents and we all agreed it's for the best." Sue said.

Will felt like he was fuming. Just as his love life was coming to order, this gets dropped onto him. He stood up and pointed an accusing finger to Sue, "That's a lie, Sue! We both know you couldn't care less where Rachel is, you just want to hurt me and the Glee kids!"

"I hate to break it out to you, Shuester, but not every little thing is about you or your future McDonald's employees!" Sue yelled to his face. It was true in a way. It wasn't about him, at least not to Rachel. "You can deny it all you want but it won't change anything. By 3 PM today, Rachel Berry will be a member of Aural Intensity."

After Sue's final speech, she stood up and left the teacher's lounge, leaving  
Will shocked, not to mention, confused. So was Shannon. She knew that Rachel loved Glee and was always the 'Willing to do whatever it takes' girl. Emma wasn't shocked, but tried to hide it.

"Excuse me for a sec." Will said as he stood up and left the teachers' lounge. He had to have a frank talk with Rachel.

* * *

Rachel spent the first few hours avoiding Glee kids, which was going to be pretty hard, considering the fact that there's at least one of them in each of her classes, and might find it fishy when she's not raising her hand after every question.

During lunch would be pretty easy to avoid them, since she does eat lunch alone. As she grabbed her tray and sat down, she looked at the seat where Finn used to be. Her eyes trailed off to the seat where Finn currently was. Next to Quinn, in a table filled with the 'popular' side of Glee. Sam, Santana, Mike...

Weirdly enough, Brittany wasn't with them. And neither was Tina, which wouldn't have been weird but given her relationship with Mike, Rachel would think Mike would at least invite his girlfriend over. But she saw in another table, was the lesser popular of the Glee kids. Mercedes, Artie, Lauren, Tina...and now Brittany.

Brittany was being the loyal girlfriend next to Artie, but something seemed...off. Why did she keep turning around to look at the popular table? And why did Artie and Tina seem so glum today?

Rachel was no idiot. She figured out Brittany and Santana's relationship the moment they sang that duet together. That's why she pointed out that 'sapphic' remark, not to insult them, but to praise them. Ironically, Santana took it badly.

So she could understand why Artie looked depressed. Maybe he sensed his girlfriend was in fact a homosexual, or possibly a bisexual. But what about Tina? Who wasn't next to Mike as she usually was?

She saw Mike with an equally glum look on his face. Maybe they were in a fight. Then she also saw Sam was pretty annoyed with Santana when she was leaning in for a kiss and he pulled away (which was odd because Sam usually loved Santana's kisses). Not to mention Santana kept looking over the the lesser popular crowd of the Glee club to see if anyone was looking before her attempts to kiss Sam.

And another recent thing she noticed? Noah Puckerman was not sitting with the popular crowd either.

Then, as if on cue, Noah put his tray next to Rachel's and started eating, as if this was what he usually does. This was never the case. Noah saw Rachel opening her mouth, probably to ask about Lauren.

"Look, can we just not talk about it?" Puck said before any words could leave Rachel's lips, "The whole school's been on my ass about Lauren and I'm sick of explaining. I just wanna forget about it."

She bit her lips shut. Of course, Puck picked today to sit beside Rachel, the day when she was trying to avoid everyone. Any other day, Rachel would have loved to point out the inapproriate cursing and give helpful advice, but today she was quiet.

"Can we just...talk about something? Anything that'll take my mind off her." Puck said quickly, "Like...aren't you singing some solo for Glee?"

"I, um, am actually not singing a solo." Rachel said slowly, looking at her food as she tucked her hair behind her ear. She could feel Puck's head turning to her in surprise, "You're not?"

"No, I decided to...not do it after all." she replied simply. She shouldn't lie. But technically it wasn't a lie. She wanted to leave Glee as undramatic and quietly as possible, meaning without a last solo.

"...Whoa, whoa, whoa. Rachel Berry turning a solo down? What the hell happened?" Puck exclaimed.

"What do you mean?" Rachel blinked innocently.

"I mean, you're Rachel. The last time you turned down a solo you were still heartbroken and shit about Finn. So what happened now?" Puck asked, sincerely concerned, though anyone could have been fooled with the swear.

Rachel was honestly surprised. She didn't know Puck cared enough to notice that. But she did remember his concern when she refused a solo the first time, after sectionals. "Nothing. It's just that I feel that I should rest my voice for a while. I suspect I'm going to be doing a jaw-dropping song for regionals, and I want to be ready, and a well rested voice is better than a strained one."

That was a complete lie. Well, the well rested voice thing isn't a lie, but if Rachel wanted jaws dropping, she would demand even practice, not minimize them. The best voice is a trained one. But thankfully, Puck bought it.

"Well, if you say so, not that you need it anyway. You got a killer voice, Rach. Remember sectionals last year? You sang that without rehersal and we still beat them, thanks to you. Y'know, you gotta stop stressing so much, Mimi, go out tonight. Live a little." Puck told her, then immediatly bit his lip.

Rachel's eyes grew wide. Not only to the 'Rach' part, but for the 'Mimi' part and the 'go out tonight' part. Those two combined together just like that could not be just a coincidence...but Puck can't possibly know Rent, can he?

"What did you say?" she asked rhetorically.

"Uh...live a little?" Puck said, trying to avoid the real answer.

"No, before that. Did you refer to me as Mimi? And did you follow by saying 'go out tonight'?" Rachel asked slowly.

"...Yeah." Puck answered.

"Mimi as in Mimi Marquez? The stunning exotic dancer and female lead in Rent? And 'go out tonight' as in her solo song?" Rachel asked again.

Puck bit his lip. He was not planning on Rachel knowing that. He only saw Rent because his mom wanted to see it. He wasn't planning on telling her that when he saw Rent, he saw Mimi and immediatly thought of Rachel (not personality wise, but voice-wise and...well, she was hot). He wasn't planning on telling anybody he saw a musical and liked it.

"No. I don't watch that musical crap." Puck lied, but Rachel could see through it. With a huge chirpy smile, she playfully pushed his shoulder, "Yes you do! You know Rent! You watched Rent!"

"Shh! Don't scream it, Mimi! I mean, RACHEL!" he said, struggling. Rachel was giggling at this. "OK, fine, I watched Rent. But it was only for the two lesbians and that hot stripper!"

"Of course it is, Noah, I didn't say anything." Rachel smirked slightly.

She never realized this, but everytime she smirks, Noah takes a moment to look at her. For someone so short and dresses like a 'toddler', he managed to find her...sexy?

Yep, it was definitely weird. But something about her hiding her body liked that drove him crazy. Those short skirts showed that there was more than meets the eye, and sometimes the looked like they were teasing. But then she covers it up with sweater tops and such. But he remembers seeing her in her 'Britney' look and her 'sexy' look last year, which showed him there was so much more of a woman hidden underneath those tacky grandmother clothes.

It was one of Rachel's many quirks, going along with that smirk of hers. I was a trait Rachel probably ignored having, but sometimes, when she knows something somebody else doesn't, she has this smirk going on. And a smirk that devious looking on a girl as 'innocent' as Rachel Berry was unbelievably hot. And that's probably why he kept on calling her Mimi. But he had never planned for her to hear that.

Rachel realized she's going to miss Puck's company. After today, he might not want to hang out with her at all. She sort of regretted it. Then the thoughts came back to her, that she was doing this for a fresh start. For the rest of the lunch hour, though Rachel and Puck managed to forget their misery even if it was for a short while, it still didn't stop them for remembering it as soon as lunch was over.

Rachel stared at the clock. It was ticking faster than she had hoped. She tried to concentrate on her studies, which wasn't helping much. In a way, she still can't believe she was doing something so bold and daring and impulsive.

And then came the moment of truth...

Glee was next.

Later that day, she stood out the door, hidden behind a range of lockers, watching her 'friends' come and go, she kept on playing with that gold star necklace Finn gave her. It wasn't only that Finn gave it to her that she loved it so much. It did represent who she was, and who she always will be. A star, no matter what anyone says.

It just showed her more and more that she wanted to be a star and nothing, not breakups and heartaches, should come in her way. She promised this to herself years ago. She'd be betraying herself if she broke that tradition now. So she took a big sigh, gave the bravest face she could muster and headed into the room. She was no longer 'Finn's Girlfriend', the girl who came into rehearsals clinging to Finn's arm like a puppy. She was back to Rachel Barbara Berry, the brave, admittingly uptight and high-maintenanced, but talented overachiever.

Of course, 'revenge' did seem like a foreign concept for a girl like Rachel, but if anyone knew her better, or was a fellow diva, maybe like Kurt or Mercedes, they'd know that born-to-be actors are naturally trained to wipe out the competition, to do whatever it takes. No one knows of the infamous 'Third Grader Trina Derwitz getting itching powder all over her tutu before the big recital' incident was all innocent second-grader fellow ballerina Rachel's idea. Her teacher clamed Rachel was just as talented as Trina ('Just as'? Try more) but was a year too young, therefore shorter than the other ballerinas. But that didn't stop her from getting the lead. And the latest revenge, the infamous Sandy Ryerson 'touching' Hank rumour...

Puck was tired, of course. He wanted to ditch Glee club in all honesty but he didn't. He knew if he ditched, everyone would know it's because of his and Lauren's breakup. And his rep was all he had left at the moment. And he was half expecting Rachel to sing solo about hurt and heartaches, and he could use a good song on a great voice at he moment. So he couldn't help but noticed when she finally came in, her head was proudly held up high, with her lips forming an odd line that was neither a smile, not a frown, nor a smirk, but some fine line between it.

He couldn't help but wonder what was on her mind. He had seen this...facial expression before, but he can't remember the last time he saw it...after 'Finchel's break up? No, of course not. He only saw frowns and desperation on her, always hell bent on destroying...'Fuinn' (He always did thought that was a weird-ass name). Before? No. Before she was all lovey-dovey but with a touch of protectiveness, always so worried about losing Finn. No...wait!

Before Finchel ever dated in the first place. Before regionals. That 'Look out, bitches, it's Rachel Berry' look. Okay, maybe she didn't call it that, but it was definitely somewhere in the same direction.

"So did you guys hear Osama's dead?" Rachel heard Tina brought up. Apparently it was the new 'topic for the week'.

"Wait, the president's dead?" Brittany asked, confused. Artie shook his head at her and muttered something too low for Rachel to hear. And Brittany lowered her head shamefully. Rachel heard someone make a noise between a scoff and a sigh, assuming it was Santana.

"I'm getting a vibe..." Puck blurted out. Rachel wa a bit startled, but didn't noticed he was sitting right next to her, "There's something...Joanna and Maureen-y about those two."

"And once again, your knowledge of Rent astounds me." Rachel smiled, "But it's true."

"Again, for the lesbians and the stripper...But anyway, Artie and Brittany looks like they're on a rough patch. Me and Chang got a bet going on they're over by the end of the week." Puck said.

"Noah! It's highly inappropriate to bet on friends' relationships! It's as if you're gaining something from Brittany and Artie's misery!" Rachel scolded.

"What? We've been watching this Santitany and Bartie, which, by the way sounds like 'barfie', drama for way too long! Might as well profit..." Puck added. Rachel had to admit, he had a point. "But lesbians and Wheels aside, what up with you? You look...different."

"Different? How s-" "Rachel, can I see you for a sec?...Outside?" Mr Shue interrupted her. Rachel mouthed 'sorry' to Puck and followed Mr Shuester out in the hallways.

"...So, you're transfering?" He asked, not wanting to beat around the bush.

"Yes, I am." Rachel said, unsuccesfully hiding her surprise. How did he know so quickly? Must be Ms Pillsbury.

But whoever it was didn't matter. Rachel, as usual, expected too much. She expected her transfer discussion with Mr Shue to be more professional, a friendly goodbye, maybe. But the look on Mr Shue's face was not part of the plan. There was shock, no doubt, followed by a bit of sadness. Then confusion.

"Why? You love Glee club. You're the most ambitious in there and by far the most talented. Why leave?" Mr Schue asked.

On some other time, Rachel would have thanked him for telling her she had the most talent because, let's face it, it was true, but today, she tried to pull the most serious face she had on.

"Mr Schue, I can't explain to you why. Everyone in this glee club is part of the reason why." Rachel answered.

"Once again, Rachel, I don't understand." Mr Schue merely answered.

Rachel immediatly wanted to do those infamous face-palms teens are known to do with someone unbelievably clueless like Mr Schue. What often pains Rachel are 'bipolar teachers'. As in, they seem to love and praise her one minute, then mock and hate her the next. Much like her own peers.

"I understand why you wouldn't, Mr Schue...Problems rarely realize what's happening when they're unaware that they're the cause of it." Rachel answered. She wasn't planning on letting Mr Schue ask her more, so when he opened his mouth, she kept talking right away, "If you need any more information on why I have chosen this path, please ask Ms Pillsbury, as she knows more than any one of you do."

With that, Rachel turned her heel and stepped into the room, taking a deep breath before taking a seat. Her mind wandered off as the rest of the class was her silent moment. There were always those mute characters that sometimes make the whole play. She was that star at the moment. Leaving with a bang though she never made a noise. Then again she couldn't stop the others from making noise...

"Rachel? Are you with us?" Mr Schue asked.

Rachel's head shaked back to reality and looked at the board, the word 'Friendship' was written across. The irony.

"Yes, o-of course." she stuttered.

"Figures RuPaul would back out at a topic like this because it's not like she even has any friends anyway." Quinn laughed. And as the rest of the room laughed along with her, it became even more cruel than it should have been. Rachel was mentally dropping her jaw at how Mr Schue boredly leaned against the piano, looking at the ceiling, as if he was waiting for time to pass. Did he care at all? _Oh, I see..._Rachel thought, _When it's Finn, Quinn or even Santana getting called out, it's a dramatic problem we absolutely must resolve as soon as possible. But when it's Rachel Barbara Berry, it's alright. _

And Puck noticed, too. His eyes drifted towards Rachel, who was obviously trying to keep her head held high, and slightly failing. She was a damn good actress, though, he had to give her that. He raised his eyebrow at Mr Schue, who wasn't doing anything, then to Finn, who still supposedly 'loved her' despite the fact they were broken up. Come to think of it, Rachel often defended Finn. Puck remembers Mike telling him that Santana was making fun of his body during their _Rocky Horror _project (Which, by the way, Puck would have loved to see, since his mom, a big Broadway fan, claimed that Janet had a huge stripping role...Hot), and Rachel was the one to defend him. And he remembered that Finn was once talking to Rachel, then Santana came to insult them, and Finn said she was 'kind of right'. A bit messed up...

Well, if no one was gonna stand up to her, he might as well. "Wow. So desperate to get noticed after quitting Cheerios, you'd bag on Rachel who didn't do shit to you? Such a charming prom queen..." Puck muttered.

Rachel seemed surprise, but not really, at his sudden defense. But all Quinn did was turn her head with the roll of her eyes. No one else seemed to think otherwise of the gesture, except Santana, who raised her eyebrow curiously.

He saw a brief 'Thank you' smile towards Rachel. He gave a small smile (No, no, it wasn't a smile, a half-smile) to Rachel as a welcome, then looked at Quinn in disbelief. _He _had a baby with _her_? Ooh, boy, with his badassness and her bitchyness, poor Beth might not even stand a chance.

With a mere thought of Beth, his chest suddenly felt heavier. She _would _become a bitch. Maybe a badass, but a bitch no less. He dreaded thinking she might end up another Quinn. Maybe...There would be a way for him to make sure that wouldn't happen? No, impossible. Since she moved to New York or something like that.

Still...

Thankfully, before he started weeping at the memory of Beth (not that he ever did that, no...), Mr Schue continued, without any comments about his students' behaviors, "So, um, I think our friendships are kind of loose in this club." he said, referring to Rachel, possibly, "So I'm gonna choose from this hat, which has all your names, the duets you will preform. And regardless of who it is, you must find a song that best describes your friendship."

A couple of groans echoed in the room, but Will chose the partners nonetheless. The first pairings came off with Quinn/Brittany, Sam/Finn, Puck/Mike, Artie/Lauren, Mercedes/Tina and lastly...

"Hold up, now I'm with Manhands? No way! Quinn, let's switch!" Santana said, somewhat childishly. Puck bit his lip, he had a feeling of what was about to go down. As his eyes shifted towards Rachel, he couldn't help but feel his chest grow heavier at the sight of the sadness in her eyes.

Rachel frowned. _'As if I'm the least bit delighted in singing with you...' _she thought bitterly to herself. Sure, she didn't expect Santana to react calmly...but then again, could she expect any less than a humiliation when Santana was involved?

"_I _already sang a duet with her." Quinn justified, but she said in a way that a 6 year old would say 'I already walked the dog the last time, you do it!' kind of way.

"Whatever, I'm not singing with her." Santana pouted, crossing her arms.

"S-Santana, I'm not expecting you to like me, but-" Rachel's attempt at making Santana less angry failed as Santana interrupted her, "How can you expect anyone to like you? You're so annoying, everytime I'm around you, it's enough to make me wanna punch babies!"

"What did I do to make you hate me so much?" Rachel asked. Not sadly or angrily, but more frustratedly. It was question she didn't realize was actually directed towards the whole Glee club.

"What's not to hate? You stole my boyfriend..." Quinn started.

"You're a major diva who thinks she's the best." Mercedes continued.

"And you always, always, always find a way to insult everyone's talent." Santana finished, "Face it, Treasure Trail, in this club, no one likes you!"

"Hey, that's not true, I like her!" Puck protested. He looked over to Mike, Artie, Tina, Brittany, Sam and Lauren, whom he knew didn't exactly have anything against Rachel, but didn't speak out.

"Oh, please! You like everything that has boobs! And the fact of the matter is, if RuPaul didn't sing, no one would give two shits about her!" Santana yelled.

"_**STOP!**_"

Rachel Berry's voice boomed as far as the McKinley halls. Her outburst made her stand up and accidentally kick her chair, then looked at everyone. Everyone looked at her, scared and frightened. Rachel, the Broadway bound with the sweet, powerful voice, yelled loud enough to be mistaken for a scary drunken truck driver. Even Brad, the piano guy, whose ears were practically programmed to block themselves during Glee Club drama, jumped a bit on his seat. Santana and Mr Schue, the only ones standing aside from Rachel, were both shocked beyond belief. When they looked into Rachel's eyes, they couldn't tell if she was hurt. Or angry. It was as if her emotions shifted from hurt to angry every second, and Santana knew she had gone too far.

_'Damn, Berry.._' she thought. Santana was not one to be afraid. Especially not of a midget like Berry. But even now, she had to admit, even with eyes watered up like she was about to cry, Rachel looked borderline psychotic-y scary. Out of everyone who was afraid, Puck was actually in a mix of impression and protectiveness. His first instinct was to jump in there, grab Rachel and get her as far away from the Glee club as possible. But he stood frozen. And he was actually impressed. He had a feeling for the next few seconds, he'd be seeing a side of Rachel no one ever has before.

And he was right.

There was a couple of minutes of silence, along with a palpable tension, before Rachel finally spoke, in a harsh-to-self whisper, "Don't you think I know that?" she shivered with her words. It was as if she was speaking her first words after being stuck out in a snowstorm, "Don't you think I _know that, _Santana, huh?" she said, her hurtful whisper disappeared and was replaced with visible anger, "Don't you think I _know _that if it wasn't for my talent, everyone would hate me? I know, Santana, I know it well enough! I've known it my whole life! But the fact that you choose to stand there and scream it at my face when I didn't do anything, it's just so-so-" Rachel didn't finish her sentence. She couldn't find the right words to say. Instead, she took her hair and pulled viciously, along with a groan/scream of frustration.

"Okay, Rachel, calm down..." Mr Schue said, moving his hands downwards to emphasize.

"Mr Schue, please, stay out of this!" Rachel begged, then turned her attention back to the Glee club, "Okay, I admit, I may be high-maintenanced, self-absorbed, and overachieving, but do you know why I'm like that? Do you know why I hang onto my talent as much as I do? It's because it's the only thing I have!"

Looks of confusion were exchanged throughout the Glee club, and Rachel continued, feeling the need to explain, "When you were a child, people tell you such things like...'Oh, what a pretty little girl!' or 'What a strong boy you are!' but me? I was never complimented for my beauty, or strength, or intelligence or nice personality...When I was a child, no one told me these things. But then people heard me sing, and that was when everyone liked me all of a sudden. I suddenly realized I may not be pretty, or strong, or smart or nice but I was talented. There was no question about it. And I hung onto that because-because..." Rachel was, again, lost at words. Finally, the tears she tried so hard to keep fell from her eyes. For a moment, she sobbed into her hands.

Everyone felt just plain guilty after that. She was right. After all, they were the ones who made her feel this way, too. And Puck, who was just beside her, but sitting down, couldn't find words to say. In fact, he found himself tearing up. His hot little Jewish-American Princess was in front of him, sobbing about how all this time, she felt ugly (he really couldn't say that was true, because he found himself fantasizing about her from time to time, but he was going to keep that to himself), she felt weak (he couldn't tell if this was true or not, but Rachel did once gave a _very_ powerful slap to Finn after finding out about babygate) and she felt stupid (and he _knows _this wasn't true, because no one with a vocabulary like Webster's Dictionary could be considered dumb).

Finally, Rachel looked back at her peers. Everyone was about to stand up, and tell them how sorry they are. She could tell from the looks on their faces. But oh, no...If she let them do that, they'll be doing the same thing tomorrow. And she was not about to let that happen. She wanted them to hurt. That was the whole point of her moving. But now, she was about to hit a bonus point.

"I understand my flaws. I've embraced them ever since I was a child. But you know what? At least I have the decency to acknowledge my flaws! All of you point them out constantly, as if I didn't already knew them! But guess what? You _all _have flaws!" Rachel yelled, about to point them out, "Quinn, _I'm _a boyfriend-stealer? Okay, I admit, I might have kissed him _once _when you two were dating. But of course, he didn't break up with you after it! Finn cheated on you, you cheated on Finn, cheated on Sam, and _lied _about Noah's baby, whom, I seem to be the only one to remember Beth! Do you remember her, Quinn? I do!"

By the time she was finished, Quinn had tears in her eyes, ready to fall, "Don't, Rachel, please..."

"Of course! You cry! When Quinn Fabray cries, the whole world goes into hysteria and feels sorry for you. When I cry, it's hilarious and I'm pathetic. Is that how it works, Quinn? I think I finally understand the concept of McKinley High if so!" Rachel said. In all honesty, she regretted talking about Beth, because she knew it would hurt Puck to mention her. But she wasn't thinking clearly. Her goal was to hurt everyone, and she went all out, probably saying things she can't take back.

"Rachel, I don't hate you..." Finn mumbled nervously.

"Oh, _now _you support me. Funny, Finn, I don't seem to recall you sticking up for me those other times when the Glee club was against me. In fact, I don't seem to recall you ever discouraging any of the insecurities I had about myself. Instead, you made them worse. You constantly felt the need to worry about your status in this school, you constantly tell me to dress sexier, and when Santana was telling me no one likes me, you just _stood there _and let me take it and I was still your girlfriend, Finn! Boyfriends stick up for each other, but you didn't!" Rachel barked.

"Maybe it just wasn't meant to be, Rach. Finn probably couldn't handle a diva." Mercedes said slowly, trying to calm her down, but failed as she accidentally insulted her once again, and the attention was now turned to her.

"Mercedes? I thought we were friends. I thought divas stood up for each other! If I'm a diva, then what are you? You are just like me, Mercedes. Remember when you asked me why you never got the leads and I always do? I was being nice to you, Mercedes, I gave you that last performance. But after every friendship episode we seem to have, like Quinn, it always seems to go forgotten and you always seem to insult me the very next day! And that goes with everyone else in here! One minute, we're all singing about being proud of being 'gleeks', but we pretend to like someone for their voice them constantly insult them? That's unbelievably low, even for all of you!"

"Whoa, Rachel, that's crossing the line!" Santana said.

"Oh, I'm crossing the line? Please, Santana, you're the worst of them all! At least Quinn and Mercedes have their moments, you never seem to like me, and I appreciate that you don't pretend, but is it really mandatory that you insult me every chance you get? I don't seem to recall me doing anything to you, Santana, in fact, I remember once complimenting you for your voice! You know what? When I insulted you that _one _time out of the countless times you insulted me, I wanted to take it back immediately, but actually, I was right! With the way you're acting, you're probably going to end up on the pole, along with being a late-in-life g-" Rachel stopped herself before she could say anything else. She knew what she was going to do do. Out Santana. But she didn't. That was not her business. She decided to hurt Santana another way. "The point is, you insult me on my insecurities all the time, but don't act like you're not insecure yourself, Santana, because if you weren't, maybe you wouldn't have felt so ashamed you felt the need to get a boob job."

"Rachel, I think you need to see Ms Pillsbury and calm down..." Mr Schue reasoned for the last time.

"And you, Mr Schue, you yell at me more than anyone in this glee club, despite as far as I am concerned, there are more people here who deserve it. Let's face it, you used to be great teacher, but now all you ever do is write a word on that silly chalkboard and make us sing. You lost your passion, Mr Schue." Rachel said, less angrily than others, but with even hate.

Mr Schue was surprised she even went as far as telling him off. But in a way, she was right. Mr Schue did feel like something was missing from last year. Was it his passion that he lost? Rachel didn't stick around to find out. Finally, she grabbed her bag and began walking out of the Glee club. She felt like she's said everything she needed to. But she turned around, for a final word, "I'm sorry it had to end this way, my fellow Glee clubbers. To be honest, the moment we all sang Don't Stop Believing together, I thought we'd all end up graduating together. Maybe, just maybe, if things were different, I wouldn't be transferring to Aural Intensity tomorrow." she said.

The truth was out, and everyone wanted to scream 'What?' at the top of their lungs, but didn't. Rachel didn't care. She didn't care about the others' reaction, only Noah's. He was hurt. It was plain obvious. She had second thoughts as soon as he saw his face, which seemed to say, '_You're all I have now and you're leaving me?_', but Rachel had made her choice.

"I'm sorry, Noah..." Rachel told him before walking out.

Puck was not angry. He was upset, but not angry. But with those three words, he felt better. Because Rachel called him Noah and not Puck. Meaning she might have said goodbye to New Directions, but she will never say goodbye to him.


	4. Better Than Forgiveness

**_AN: If you must know, I absolutely despise Quinn. I loved her in season 1, but season 2 just turned her into a brat that always seemed to get her way. And that Lucy Caboosey line? Obvious attempt to win Quinnpathy (shorter name for Quinn Sympathy) since her fanbase was freaking low at the moment. So I'm gonna try to redeem her in this fic, though for the first few chaps, she might be a major bitch. Santana, however, she has her good moments and bad moments. There are times when I feel like punching her in the face (Special Education) and other times when I love her so much I'm close to calling her one of my favorite characters (Sexy, Night of the Neglect) and being top bitch, Santana knows when she's gone too far. An_d so many want a Faberry friendship, and I dunno, I never could stand it. Pezberry would be much more interesting, IMHO. ****But this fic isn't just about Puckleberry. Well, it is, mainly, but some small portions of the chapters will be dedicated for some of the other Gleeks. Because though they don't deserve it for treating Rachel badly, they're still the characters we fell in love with in Season 1.**

* * *

As the little diva left, silence overtook the room. No one could move or speak. They were just beginning to process what had just happened in their minds. Rachel Berry, the unpopular midget from Glee club, had just called everyone in the Glee club on their bluff and left to join another Glee club she deemed 'unworthy of stepping on the same stage as her'. Some were upset. Like Tina, Artie, Brittany, Mike and Lauren, for example. They finally saw the light. And while Rachel may have had her issues with Santana, Quinn and Mercedes, they cannot recall a time themselves when Rachel had offended them in any way.

There was palpable silence no one dared to break. If it was broken, mixed emotions would come flying in the air and it would go all out of proportion. None of their brains seem to let them process what had just happened. The whole thing didn't make sense at all, but at the same time, everything she said was true, and that's why each and every one of them was angry, sad, hurt, sympathetic.

Lauren remembers she had goosebumps the first time she heard Rachel. The slight envy she felt in her voice, and knowing that Berry was definitely on the list of the very few people that would make it out of Ohio. Tina remembers the time Rachel sent Sunshine to a crackhouse, and insulted her, calling her a 'freak', not to mention the time she accused Rachel of being a liar that time she claimed Brittany stole her style. Artie recalls the 'handicappable bus' thing back in sophomore year, when Mr Schue announced the school wouldn't pay, Rachel said that wasn't fair. But Artie responded by calling her irritating. Mike had never spoken two words to Rachel. But she's never done anything to him. He even occasionally danced with her, especially during Gives You Hell. And Brittany, though confused about the whole thing, knew she had done wrong by Rachel by stealing her style...and money.

Not one thing Rachel did to them, and they did everything but help her.

They could have stood there for hours, or at least until the bell rang. And even then they would have walked or drove home in silence. They coud have been there for days in stunned silence, if it weren't for an entheusiastic, obnoxous, roaring laughter.

All Glee Clubbers turned and were stunned to see Ms Sylvester, literally laughing her heart out. Honestly, Sue hasn't seen anything this funny since that boy with the girly lips dancing to Bieber. It was so long since she'd laughed this hard, she felt like a kid at home watching his favorite sitcom and the highlight joke of the episode just came up. Innocent in her own eyes, but it was a cruel laugh in the ears of others.

"What's so funny, Sue?" Will asked in annoyance.

"I'll tell you what's funny, Schuester." Sue said as she wiped a tear, "The stunned silence after Streisand left."

"And how is that funny?" Mercedes demanded.

"That none of you expected it." Sue admitted. They all looked at each other in confusion. Of course they didn't expect it! She bursted out of nowhere! And how could Sue expect it? She rolled her eyes, practically reading all of their puny little minds. "Come on, that girl's got depression written all over her face. I keep expecting her to show up to school wearing all black and suddenly reading Twilight."

"Why do they always associate Twilight with goths? We don't want it either..." Tina whispered to Mercedes.

"Everyday, I haven't seen Streisand talk to any one of you outside of the Breakfast Club, except maybe for Mohawk over there, but to not know the girl was going to snap, you have to be blind. Well, I'll give William benefit of the doubt. I assume all the grease from your hair slipped into your eyes and enabling you to see any of it." Sue said.

"Enough with the hair jokes, Sue! You know, why do you have to kick us when we're already low?" Will said fraustratedly, to which Sue scoffed at.

"Buddy, you brought this on yourself." Sue said. It struck Will that she was right, it was still his fault. He could have been a better leader, he could have defended Rachel like he did for Kurt and Santana, but he didn't. He stood there idly by while his best student was getting hassled. He sighed, rubbing his forehead. The truth was he had a second chance. He had this same feeling five minutes before glee rehersals started, and vowed to himself to make it better. But as soon as glee started, they started badmouthing Rachel again, and something inside him, though he wasn't quite sure what, felt like he didn't want or need to defend her.

Sue couldn't stay there any longer, though. She had better things to do. "Well, I gotta go buy some new costumes for my newest star! You can go on rehersing, though I doubt it'd be much help, 'cause let's face it, without Berry, you're about as useful like condoms are useful to those girls on those teen pregnancy reality shows. So, William, I'll see you at the hair care aisle at Walmart." she smiled as she walked away.

"How can she talk to us like that?" Santana bursted out. She was the only one capable of doing so, too. "Mr. Schue, how can you not say anything to her and just stand there while she insulted us?"

After she dared talk, other Gleeks felt it safe to talk again now that they were on another subject, and choruses of 'yeah's and 'she's right's wered heard. And like most things that usually happened in Glee club, the Rachel matter was about to be shoved aside and ignored, at least, tried to. Deep inside, most of them felt scared, shocked and hurt over the Grand Berry Freakout (as Puck now liked to call it), but they decided to hide their feelings by changing subjects. And they did this very often.

Well, Noah Puckerman was sick and tired of this song.

"Now you know how Rachel feels." Puck muttered angrily.

"Okay, Puck, let's not go there..." Mr. Schue begged.

"No, I'm sick of this crap!" Puck yelled as he stood up and faced the Gleeks, grabbing their attentions seemingly by force, "Everytime something serious happens, we push the matter aside as if it never existed and forget it, and we all treat each other like we're cast members of some stupid ass family show where we forgive and forget every little thing like Full House or something! Santana bullying both Rachel AND Kurt, Quinn's cheating, and Beth! Do any of you asshats remember Babygate? Because I actually began to believe Babygate was all a dream since no one ever talks about it until Rachel said it again!"

"Noah, please, don't do this...You're only angry about Rachel, you don't mean to hurt me with Beth..." Quinn cried. And Puck cringed heavily when she called him Noah. She saw the calming effect Rachel had on him when she called him Noah, so she was trying to imitate her. One thing's for certain, Lucy Quinn Fabray could never be Rachel Barbara Berry.

"Puck, seriously, you're out of line, that's my girlfriend you're talking about!" Finn defended, but only because Quinn was crying.

Puck laughed in painful irony, "Which girlfriend? Quinn or Rachel? Or how about we start calling them the Girls You Keep Playing With? You keep going back and forth with Quinn and Rachel, it's exhausting and honestly? If you keep doing it, you're a bigger man-whore than I am!" Puck yelled, then pointed to Quinn, "And you, don't you dare call me Noah. Only people I actually care about call me that." Puck sneered cruelly. Well, it wasn't true. Only Rachel really called him that, and his mom and sister. But he wanted to hurt Quinn the way she's hurt him and Rachel. "But you were right about something. I am angry about Rachel. Unlike most of you shitheads, I actually care about her, and I actually care about her enough to not give two shits whether it would hurt my reputation or not."

As usual, Mr. Schue missed his cue to intervene before things would get bad and personal, and found Puck leaving the room. Everyone sighed. Suddenly, they were all angry, tired, sad and now sick. Sick of the drama. From 10 measley minutes, Rachel Berry had managed to turn everyone's previously happy-go-lucky normal day into a suckfest soap opera drama show.

But then, a certain phrase echoed in Mr. Schue's mind...

_"If you need any more information on why I have chosen this path, please ask Ms Pillsbury, as she knows more than any one of you do..."_

Rachel said that as her last word with her private talk with him. And he wondered what on earth could Emma know that he couldn't? Whatever it was, he had to find out. He ate lunch with Emma every day and if something horrible was happening to his star student, Emma should have brought it up. With that, he muttered 'I'll be back' to the already-lost Glee club. He barely had time to see their confused looks at the pace he was going.

He finally found the door with the words 'Guidance Counselor' and entered without knocking, knowing how much Emma hated that. He found her calmly sitting on her desk. With a brown paper bag in front of her. Her already-wide eyes turned wider when she caught Will.

"Will? Shouldn't you be doing Glee rehersals?" Emma asked, stunned. She expected Will to see her today, since she knew Rachel was quitting, but she didn't expect him to open the door in such a harsh manner.

"What did you know about Rachel?" Will asked. For Emma's sake, he had tried to say this as gently as he could, but it was hard to do so. Emma Pillsbury was the one person he was supposed to trust, but it seemed like even she had something to hide.

"Will, the things that happen between me and my students are strictly confidential." Emma said calmly, quietly preparing for the storm.

"Rachel told me to come see YOU if I had any questions on why would she leave. She also said you know more than any of us do, which means you knew she was going to quit, you know she was unhappy and you didn't tell me!" Will said, more fraustrated than angrily.

"...I couldn't tell you, you know that. And to be perfectly fair, you knew she was unhappy. You knew it, but you chose to ignore it." Emma insisted.

And obviously, Will was aware of it. He _did_ want to help Rachel, don't get him wrong, but something inside of him just seemed to stop him from helping. And he didn't know why.

"Perhaps you compare Rachel too much to Terri." Emma read his mind, loud and clear. He was surprised when she said that, but it occoured to him she was probably onto something.

"Wha-Wha-What do you mean by that?" Will stuttered.

"You see your previous situation with Terri like Rachel, Finn and Quinn. I noticed you've always been fond of Rachel, but ever since she revealed to Finn that Noah Puckerman was the baby's real father, you seemed to dislike her. Because you imagined Finn and Quinn as you and Terri, a lovely couple who had a baby, but Rachel was the little troublemaker who ruined it, and why do you think that is?" Emma asked gently.

Emma asked gently in hopes for a gentle response, which is not what she had at all, "Because she was selfish! She wanted Finn to hate Quinn so she could have him, it's pathetic and sad an-and..." Will once again stuttered, at lost for his words.

He needed a breather, which is why he sat down on one of the chairs, rubbing his forehead. He always knew he had a certain...grudge against her, but he neve expected it to be because he linked her to Terri.

He sighed. Glee club was going to have to wait. He had to focus on this now.

* * *

The silence in the glee room was now torturous, but at the same time, no one dared to say a word. Only little sobbings escaped Quinn's lips. The odd part is no one was consolling her, no one was patting her back to support her. Probably because they didn't know what to say. Quinn Fabray rarely makes mistakes, but the few she has made were catastrophic ones that ruined peoples' lives, and now they all seemed to realize that. So although they would love the blonde Cheerio to stop crying, what else were they supposed to say?

Mike Chang, however, always the none-dramatic one, took a leap of faith and put a comforting hand on Quinn's shoulder. Multiple looks were directed at Mike, paticularly Tina, who suddenly seemed uneasy, but strangely enough, not angry or jealous. In fact, instead of doing her infamous Tina Cohen Chang move and grab Mike's hand and luring him away from whatever random girl was hitting on him, she didn't even look at him, but instead, looked away with a blank expression on her face. The gleeks expected more of a reaction, especially when Quinn hands found themselves on Mike Chang's, wordlessly thanking him.

"I can't believe they said that..." Mike blurted out. He didn't mean for it to sound angry or mean. In truth, he had known this was coming, too. Call it his 'sixth sense', but Mike knew there was fire in Berry's heart, and it wasn't just from passion. He wasn't so surprised she freaked out, and even less surprised when Puckerman joined in. Puck cared more for Rachel than he knew. Well, maybe this is Mike's secret romantic side thinking, though. But he sympathized with...'Puckleberry'.

However, the others took his kind words as an invitation to lash out. Pretty soon, the whole club was arguing. Over what, though, Santana couldn't figure out. Though she was crying, she knew Quinn and Mercedes were insisting Rachel was overreacting, while others started blaming others. At this point, Santana even heard Quinn saying the following phrase:

"She's such a traitor! Now what are we supposed to do for Regionals?"

And at that point, Santana couldn't help but roll her eyes. And throughout the whole argument, Santana managed to shut them all up with four simple words.

"Are you serious, Fabray?" All eyes turned to her, and most of them were wide. Why was Santana Lopez defending Rachel? Out of everyone, she was called out the most. Naturally, people expected Santana's after-comments to be the most vicious. But they should have known, Santana hates being predictable.

"'Now what are we supposed to do for Regionals', that's all you can say? Damn, no wonder Rachel left!" Santana exclaimed.

"Please, she called you a stripper! How can you not hate her!" Quinn said, more clearly now that the hurt inside her changed to anger.

"Precisely. She called me a stripper twice while I called her Midget, RuPaul, Man Hands, Yentl and insulted her so many times. Now I can admit I was a major bitch to Berry. So why don't you guys try admitting it?" Santana barked. She knew she was a bitch, but she also know when to quit it, which was usually never, but this was an exception.

"We weren't being bitchy. Rachel makes it sound like we've been bullying her all this time." Mercedes said.

"And we have." Santana said. Following Puckleberry's actions, she stood up and faced the Gleeks, hands on her hips, "Let's think, really. Why did we bug Rachel all the time? Because she doesn't react! So she's an easy target. There's so many things wrong with that girl, honestly. She's a junior and her V-card's still in tact, she's probably the shortest girl in school, and that includes freshmans and sophomores, she dresses like those Japanese anime kids, and she's probably the most annoying girl in Ohio. See? Plenty, tons of reasons to hate her. But lemme ask you this, besides critisizing your dancing or singing, has she ever been bitchy to you like I have outside of glee?"

Silence throughout the room as each of them looked at each other, waiting, begging for someone to say 'yes' so they could be right. But no one spoke.

"Mmm-hmm, that's what I thought." Santana smiled with satisfaction, "And we've all been bitchy or asses to each other outside of glee, but for some reason, we forget it and we don't hold it against each other, but we're always willing to save a grudge for Rachel Berry. And take me, for example, I'm a bitch and I've insulted everyone in this room. Yet you guys never insult me or hate me."

"We did once..." Brittany muttered gently, afraid of this Santana.

"Yeah...once." Santana said, almost losing her train of thought as Brittany spoke up, "Rachel, countless of times."

"But that's different." Finn suggested, "Because you're-"

"I'm what? A popular, hot-as-hell cheerleader? Doesn't matter what your answer is, Finnocence, the fact of the matter is I get special treatment because I'm popular and most of my insults are hilarious. But if I wasn't this hot cheerleader, you guys wouldn't be giving me special treatment. I was a bitch even in grade school, and people hated me like they hated Rachel. It wasn't until puberty kicked it that people treated me differently. And okay, as selfish as this is, I'm happy my body changed, because this will show you will never treat me like Berry. But like I said, I'm happy about it, but that doesn't make it right." Santana justified.

"...You're right." Mike muttered, "You're absolutely right."

"Wow, giving someone special treatment because they're popular, sounds familiar, huh, Mike?" Tina said sarcastically. Odd sight to see for the quiet goth girl.

"Tina, this isn't about us." Mike said, annoyed.

"No, it's about all of the glee clubs being jerks, too! Just 'cause you're popular doesn't mean you should be allowed to be excused from your mistakes! Of course, this seems to be a common thing for the boys in glee!" Tina yelled.

Santana bit her lip. All she wanted to do was make a point here. Not start an Asian war. But still, one couldn't help but wonder why Tina was so affected by it. Of course, she didn't notice when Tina said it was a common thing for the glee guys, her eyes shifted torwards Artie for just a split second.

"I said I was sorry, and I didn't mean for this to happen!" Mike begged. He honestly never wanted Tina to hate him.

"And if I say something about her, I'll be the bitchy girlfriend and you'll be the victim boyfriend! That's how it always works! Well, I'm done keeping up with this Asian fusion, Mike!" Tina yelled. Multiple gasps were heard around the room. This was Asian fusion breaking up. Granted, they were a quiet couple so they didn't know much about them, but they didn't know they were unhappy. Suddenly, Tina turned to the other Gleeks, who were honestly terrified. They've seen Tina during the whole Theatricality thing, she can be scary, "And if you people are just going to stand there, I'm gonna follow Puck and apologize to Rachel..." she said, beginning to storm out.

"Hey, Fangoria, wait up!" Santana called out as she followed her. Lauren, Brittany, Mercedes and Sam stood up, deciding to follow, then Mike said, "Hey, I wanna go too!"

"Then get your own ride." Tina said coldly. The others were surprised, since Tina was supposedly the 'shy one' of the group. She was also the only female to have a car.

Santana, Lauren, Mercedes and Brittany shrugged as they followed Tina. Sam sighed and patted Mike's back, "I'll give you a ride."

"I'm coming with you." Artie said.

Mike nodded to say thanks, but then he noticed some members of the club were missing. Rachel obviously left, Puck went after her, followed by Tina, Lauren and Brittany. But Quinn and Finn didn't move an inch.

"Aren't you guys coming?" Mike asked.

"For what?" Quinn asked innocently.

"To apologize to Rachel." Artie stated the obvious, and said it in a tone a mother would use to a child as she would point to a dog and say, 'This is a dog'.

"Someone has to tell Mr. Schue why half of the glee club is missing." Quinn excused, and Finn nodded. The boys rolled their eyes, seeing right past Quinn's lame excuse and Finn agreeing with her only to stay.

"Quinn, you've skipped regular classes for cheer lessons when we were kids all the time, and now you're telling me you can't skip rehersals?" Mike asked in disbelief. Finn, Artie and Sam raised their eyebrows. Since when did Other Asian knew Quinn when he was a kid? They never talked outside of glee, as far as they know.

"Let it go, Chang!" Quinn said angrily. Both Finn and Sam knew that Quinn only called someone by their last names when she was really pissed. "I don't feel like apologizing to Berry because she doesn't deserve my apology, so let it go!"

Sam shook his head in disapproval. Quinn knew perfectly well Rachel was right, but she denied it. Because Quinn Fabray cannot be wrong. Ever. She hated being wrong..

Sam slapped his hand on Mike and Artie's shoulder, urging them to go. Quinn, like most girls, is stubborn and won't admit she's wrong anyone, so this was all a moot point. Evidently, Mike somewhat agreed. They all turned around and took two steps to leave, then Mike turned back, "You know what I think? I think you know Rachel was right about everything, and you're just too scared to lose your dignity to admit it."

Quinn looked away from the boys. Artie and Sam were both equally surprised. They had never seen Mike in any other emotion bt happy, but now he looked so fraustrated and annoyed. They thought it better not to question it, and finally left the choir room.

So Finn and Quinn, the Power Couple, were left alone. Quinn just sighed and stared at the wall blankly. 'He's right.' she thought to herself. She knew damn well she had mistreated Rachel, when all in all, she should have been helping Rachel. Quinn knew what it was like to be an outcast, but after all the heavy surgery and the weight loss, she turned into someone she vowed never to become, and she didn't even realize it.

Finn didn't know what to feel on the whole thing. To him, everything Rachel said was arguable. They didn't hurt her THAT much, and yet, most of the Glee kids decided to go after her and apologize. Rachel could have easily overreacted, but if so, this was her best act yet. But overall, Finn didn't believe it was an act. Though actresses are meant to be tough in order to face future rejection, Rachel was sensitive, and took everything to heart. Finn learned that from almost a year of dating her. But it broke his heart when Rachel cried. He wanted to apologize, truthfully, but he didn't know how, and he wouldn't be a very good boyfriend if he just left Quinn.

Then again, he had never been the best boyfriend.

"Finn, am I shallow?" Quinn asked abruptly. She wanted her boyfriend to lie to her. To stroke her hair, and tell her to stop being silly and that she's the sweetest thing ever.

"Well...yeah, but I still like you." Finn said dumbly. He didn't realize he hurt his girlfriend's feelings, he was just being honest.

But Quinn closed her eyes and slipped her hand in his, trying to ignore what he said, and pretend he said something else.

Pretend..yeah, seems like she's been doing that a lot all this time.

* * *

"It was awful." Rachel said, her eyes all red and her face is puffy.

"Tell us what happened." Kurt said. Rachel was back at the Lima Bean, repeatedly making swirls on her latte, which was getting colder and colder by the minute. Hot dairy is one thing, but cold dairy was simply bad for you. At this point, Rachel was too tired to care. That dairy myth was only accurate if you drink dairy on the day of your performance anyway. Other than that, this was the first HummelBerryShine (Okay, since Puckleberry, everyone had to give everything a name) gathering. Though at first, Kurt was hesitant (though he lashed out at Rachel for scaring away a potential glee club member, he can't deny he was jealous of Sunshine...just a bit), he knew Rachel needed her friends right now so he didn't dwell on it much.

"Well, I had planned on not making a big scene for my last day. But as always, the big spotlight finds some way to shine on me, as I started yelling at the other glee club members. Like, really yelling, I called people names and said some things I can't take back. And...And I even mentioned Beth." Rachel said, heavy guilt in her voice.

"Wait, who's Beth?" Sunshine asked.

"Child born out of wedlock, Quinn Fabray pretended it was Finn's, but actually the baby was Puck's, then Beth was adopted and for some idiotic reason, no one talks about Beth anymore." Kurt explained to her as if it he was explaining what happened on a sitcom she missed.

"...Whoa." Sunshine muttered as she sipped her coffee, "I take it Fabray took it pretty hard?"

"There was...a couple of tears, yes, but I guarantee you she'll get over it. Like so many people in glee, Quinn has the amazing gift of pretending nothing's wrong." Rachel noted.

"Oh. So what else happened? Did they start apologizing?" Kurt asked.

"No. Instead they made up excuses. You'd think at least Mercedes would stick up for me, but she didn't." Rachel shrugged.

"Ah, Divas...they tend to hold onto their pride, but I can tell you Mercedes'll come around." Kurt promised, a bit disappointed in his diva that she didn't stick up for one of them.

"I don't know. I said some stuff I can't take back, and I'm pretty sure none of them will be willing to forgive me." Rachel said. She'd be lying if she said she didn't have a trace of guilt in her body. She couldn't take back the words she said, yet at the same time, she felt relieved she finally said what she's been bottling up all these years.

But her instincts weren't as good as one may think. Kurt's eyes shifted for one second at the window outside, and noticed a familiar figure approaching, "Rachel, you sure none of them wants to forgive you?" Kurt asked.

Sunshine and Rachel looked where Kurt was looking, and saw Puck heading there, as if he knew she was going to be here.

"Oh, my goodness...I c-can't deal with this, I don't want to see Noah angry at me!" Rachel said, burrying her face in her hands. Kurt bit his lip, preparing for the soon-to-be emotional torture that's about to take place. With the way the glee club is, Kurt is seriously considering writing to MTV about directing their own reality show. It would probably be more popular that the Jersey Shore.

Sunshine stared at him. She would have been intimidated by his bad boy appearance and his mohawk, except she had seen him once, during her 'All By Myself' performance, in which he proved he was pretty emotional. 'Emotional, eh?' Sunshine thought. And just like that, a little plan formed in her head.

"Rachel, go to the bathroom." Sunshine said abruptly.

Rachel raised her head from her hands, giving Sunshine a quzzical look, "Hide! Me and Kurt'll distract him, and we'll come and get you when the coast is clear." Sunshine ordered.

Rachel looked at Noah, then at the bathroom door. He was approaching pretty fast, but soon enough, she mouthed a 'thank you' to Sunshine and ran for it. You could say plenty were surprised when they saw a flash of a rainbow-striped coat racing to the bathroom. Sunshine smiled, knowing exactly the words she was going to say. Whatever anger 'Noah' had in him would be erased in a matter of time. But Kurt raised his brow suspiciously, "Wow. Talented and cunning. You and my little divas may have more in common than I thought."

Sunshine replied with a smile, "Just because I'm short doesn't mean I can't be evil." she grinned as Puck came in. Immediately, he spotted Kurt and...a familiar girl sitting together.

"Kurt!...And girl." Puck said sheepishly to Sunshine.

"Sunshine Corazon. Remember me? The All By Myself singer?" Sunshine reminded him.

"Oh, right! Um, have any of you see Rachel?" Puck asked. Sunshine found this a bit strange. She had expected him to be angry and filled with rage, but he said all this in a concerned tone. Not what she expected. She honestly wanted to make him feel bad if he was angry. She was going to tell the truth, that Rachel was ithe bathroom since she saw Puck was sincere and apologetic, but then she saw the rest of the McKinley glee kids trailing to the door, later than Puck. How they even knew Rachel was at the Lima Bean was beyond her...

"Excuse, move, I said, move it!" a certain Latina yelled, pushing random people around while the other trailed behind her. Now SHE looked angry...

So Sunshine smirked as she prepared her words. Soon enough, the entire Glee club, minus Rachel's ex and that other blonde girl, was in front of Sunshine.

Kurt bit his lip. The whole glee club was bound to be interrogating Sunshine for Rachel, and it didn't help that Sunshine was so much shorter.

"Hey, guys!" Kurt smiled, waving his hands in attempt to lighten up the mood. From what both Sunshine and Kurt could see, Puck was sympathetic, but the others weren't that much.

"Save it, Adam Lambert, where's RuPau-I mean, Rachel?" Santana asked. She promised herself she'd be a bit nicer, but old habits die hard. Still, it's pretty good progress considering she promised herself like 10 minutes ago.

"I, um, I don't..." Kurt didn't know what to say. He always found Santana frightening, especially now. Sunshine, however, was unaware of just how scary the Latina can be, and chose to smirk...and, yes, defy her.

"Rachel doesn't want to see you, or any of you, actually." Sunshine exclaimed, her head held high, à la Rachel Berry.

"Who asked you? No, actually, who are you?" Santana asked.

"It doesn't matter. This is about Rachel, not me." Sunshine said.

"Whatever, where is she?"

"Like I said, she doesn't want to see you!" Sunshine emphasized every word, as if she was talking to a stubborn baby. Well, Santana picked up on that tone and she didn't like it...at all.

"Listen, Oompa-Loompa, I'm about an inch away from kicking your tiny rat-ass, so unless you telp me where Berry is, I'm gonn take that latte of yours and shove it right up your-" "Lemme guess, you're Santana." Sunshine asked. Judging from her character, she already knew.

"What are you, a mind reader? Just tell us where the girl is!" Santana said fraustratedly.

"Santana, we're not going anywhere if you keep on yelling at her!" a familiar voice popped up. Sunshine looked behind Santana, and her eyes widened as she saw the blonde jock.

Santana picked up on that, but decided not to comment.

"Listen, can you just tell us where Rachel is? We just want to apologize." Mercedes begged.

"Oh, it's a 'we' now?" Puck glared at the rest of them.

"We get it, Puckerman, you made us all feel bad and shit, just let it go!" Lauren said, annoyed. Puck slightly froze for a split second. This was the first time Lauren's spoken to him since the breakup, but then he remembered he had more important matters at hand.

"I must say, I'm surprised and disappointed at all of you. I thought glee club was supposed to make you feel like a family. I didn't know you all weren't any better than Karofsky..." Kurt muttered.

"Whoa, Hummel, don't compare me to that douchebag!" Puck said.

"With a couple of exceptions," Kurt said, his head pointing at Puck, "you all have drove her out, and you only have but yourselves to blame. You know this bad feeling you have now? I hope you remember it the next time you 'innocently insult' someone else."

Once again, the glee club fell silent in the truth in his words. Most of them looking at the floor, afraid to look up and let others see their reactions.

Sunshine sighed, feigning sympathy for them, "Look, I understand you have some mixed feelings about all this. But guess what? Rachel needs time. If you really cared about her, you'd wait like...a week, until this whole thing blows off." Sunshine proposed.

This silenced the club for a moment, and a sigh followed Brittany's lips, "The pixie is right, guys."

For once, the glee club knew Brittany was right and silently followed her as they all began to leave. But Puck stayed still, "No! Look, guys, we have to fix this as soon as possible! The girl freakin' cried, you dumbasses, and you're just going to leave!"

"Look, Puckerman, you can stay here like an idiot waiting for Juliet to come down, or you can go home and prepare an apology song. Your choice." Santana offered.

In the end, Puck knew the she-devil was right. Before he followed her, he told Sunshine and Kurt, "Listen...when she's ready to forgive us for being asses, tell her to call me first and only me."

As soon as he left, Sunshine and Kurt's 'serious faces' fell into a doting face, "Awwwwww!" they both gushed at the same time, holding each other and squealing as they ran to the bathroom to meet their friend.

"So, what happened?" Rachel asked.

"The coolest and cutest thing! First, Puck came, but then everyone else in glee, minus Quinn and Finn, came afterwards. Than Santana hassled Sunshine into telling her where you are..." Kurt started.

"Wow, you confronted Santana and lived to tell the tale? Impressive, Sunshine." Rachel nodded in approval.

"I do wha I can!" Sunshine smiled, "And then Kurt here made them all feel bad, saying he's disappointed in them and all...

"And I swear, I could actually see some of them ready to cry!" Kurt squealed. Not at the crying, of course, but at his acting skills. This would prove very handy in the future. "And Sunshine topped it off by making them feel worst and sending them home!"

"Really! That's fantastic, but-" "But wait! You haven't heard the best part!" Sunshine said, "Before Puck left, he told us to be sure you call him first when you're ready to forgive them!"

Rachel blushed, but trief to hide it, "H-How is that the best part?" Rachel asked.

"Uh, hello, earth to Rachel! Men of Noah Puckerman's calibur don't exactly make sure of these type of things!" Kurt reminded her.

"It's totally a tale as old as time. The popular jock falls for the misunderstood outcast." Sunshine smiled.

But Rachel gave a saddened smile. Kurt and Sunshine honestly expected more of a reaction for Rachel. "That only happens in movies, guys...In real life, girls like me don't get guys like him."

"B-But you got Finn!" Sunshine offered.

Rachel kept that sad smile on her face, "And look how that turned out..." she whispered softly.

* * *

**So, wow! You get a 'Grand Berry Freakout' Aftermath, a Puckasaurus freakout, a Wemma scene, a Santana Speech, and a little Santitany moment if you read between the lines, Fudson bashing (Because let's face it...who DOESN'T love fudson bashing?) Asian Fusion Fight (how cool does THAT sound?) and a HummelBerryShine (thumbs up for what might be the coolest theeesome name EVER) moment. And for future questions, yes, TIKE WILL BE BREAKING UP. I cannot stress this enough, the main GUARANTEED couples are: Puckleberry (well...duh), Santitany, Klaine, Tartie, Wemma. Yes, Tartie. I realize not many people like them together, but whatever. I do. And I'm not gonna change the pairings into pairings I hate just so I'll get more reviews, though you'd be surprised about how many people do that. No one in this story will be single, well...OK, one or two, and you may hate the couples but please don't come whining with a lecture on why This belongs with That. There will be Three, I repeat, THREE Unexpected Couples, and I think you even saw a preview of them. The UE Couples will actually be coming soon, so yeah, something to look forward to!**


	5. Better Than Loneliness

_**Better Than Revenge**_

**AN:...YOU GOTTA BE SHITTIN' ME! ALREADY MORE THAN A HUNDRED REVIEWS FOR ONLY FOUR CHAPTERS? Seriously? I didn't expect this to be so popular! I can't believe you guys! I don't mean to be all mushy, but you guys are seriously the best! I can't believe you seriously gave me so much reviews. I mean, for a hundred reviews, the story usually has at least 10 chaps, but I have only FOUR and thanks to YOU I have A HUNDRED! I can't believe it! Again, thanks so much and hope you enjoy the next chap, though it's so much shorter...**

**PS: I believe I said that Rach's last day was a Monday, but unfortunately it's actually a Friday (cue Rebecca Black song!) mostly because I need it to be Friday in order to give Puckleberry a lil' fluff...**

**And here's a tip for authors: writing for Sunshine is seriously fun. We don't know much of Sunshine's personality or past, therefore, we can practically invent her. She can be sweet, or bitchy. A hero or a villain. It's seriously fun. Ever notice reading an OC in a story can seriously get you to be bored? Well, that's why Sunshine is fun. She's kind of an OC since we're writing everything about her, but at the same time, the readers know who we're talking about so it's fun for them to read.**

* * *

Both Sunshine and Kurt felt unbelievably sorry for the tiny brunette as she turned around and left. Her words told both of them one thing: she was still hurt over Finn. Did she still love him? Undetermined. She was hurt, no doubt about it. More so than she let on. She wasn't over anything, despite her 'Firework' set-up weeks ago. And her phrase indicated she was now officially too hurt to date.

'Wow...' Sunshine thought, 'So Hudson really messed her up, huh?'

In the time that Sunshine knew Rachel, she immediately understood Rachel was not someone you would want as your enemy. Not only can she be ruthless (the crackhouse thing was proof enough), but she held grudges against people. Deep, obvious grudges, the kind when you're just peacefully sitting class, not listening to math solutions, then you feel someone's hateful gaze at you. You turn your head and there's Rachel Berry, her brown eyes glaring at you, preparing for her revenge. Then you leave class, thinking you were overreacting, but Rachel's hate is still in the air.

This was furthermore proof Rachel was stronger than one might think. And for someone to break her so badly...Sunshine could only imagine what Rachel must have felt that time.

After HummelBerryShine parted, it gave time for Sunshine to think. Fortunately, she'd never been in love. She might have had a crush or two...the second one being recent, but never in love. Sunshine was one to sway through life without thinking of it, and she was thankful for that. That way no one can break her like they did Rachel. Sunshine could only imagine the emotional turmoil a breakup could cause: endless nights crying to sleep, one mile of wet tissues surrounding your bed, a bottomless pit of ice cream and several romantic movies...

She knew though, to keep her first friend's sanity, she might have to help her through this foreign road called 'love'.

If only she knew, she soon going to be further into the road than she knew.

* * *

Finn didn't know exactly why he didn't follow Rachel. Wasn't he her ex-boyfriend? Didn't he know how emotionally fragile she was? Of course he did...behind her diva-esque attitude lied a girl so fragile, Finn started calling her a Crystal Doll. Why? Well, when Finn was younger, he would occasionally accompany his mom to shop. And everytime he did, Carol Hudson would take him to different stores Finn never saw on their last trip. After the fifthteenth shopping, he finally figured out they never went to the same place twice. Except for one store.

The Swarovski store. That popular expensive store containing all kinds of jewels and diamonds. Whenever their shopping would end, Carol would allow Finn to play at the nearby playground, which coincidentally, was right in front of the Swarovski store. Finn never paid much attention, until he realized everytime he played, he caught his mother staring at the store, but never buying. And finally, instead of going off to the playground, he joined his mother to look at that shop, to see what was so special. Laying in front of them were necklaces, bracelets, and earrings. Finn had to admit, they did look pretty. His eyes caught on to something that was entirely made out of crystal, but wasn't jewelry. It was a figure of a ballerina made out of crystal. He remembers pointing out to that odd thing, asking what it was.

"Well, you can't wear it, like other jewelry. It's like a crystal doll." Carol explained.

"Why is it in a jewelry store if you can't wear it?" Finn asked, confused.

"It's mostly there for decoration." Carol answered, "But I never understood the appeal. Crystal dolls are pretty, yes, but they break easily. They might as well break when you're taking it from the store to your home. They're simply too fragile."

Finn understood what she meant. Things that were pretty to look at but too fragile that, if you merely bruise them or hold them too tightly, they'll shatter into a million tiny pieces, and what would be left would be a painful reminder of the beauty it once was. That's how Rachel was to him. In fact, almost every girl was like that, but Rachel...she tried to hide her fragility with her diva/controlling attitude, giving people the impression she's so goal-oriented and such a diva that, much like those mean girls in cliché teen movies who are always trying to destroy the 'nerdy girl's chances with the hot guy, she doesn't have actual feelings. But as he once heard Kurt say, people are not boxes. There are more than four sides to them.

Of course, in that context, Rachel and Quinn were alike. Except when Quinn cried, all the world seemed to fall at her feet and feel sympathetic for her, as if she were a 5 year old being bullied. Ironically, when Rachel cried when she was actually bullied, no one moved an inch.

But Finn saw how hurt she was. In fact, he considered himself one of the first. He saw sparks in the young diva no one else did, no, he saw there was more to her than just a controlling Broadway diva and he can be sure he was the very first to see that. So that puts his feelings to question: was it love or admiration?

As much as Finn loved to believe he was one of the nice jocks, he can't deny when he found out Rachel made out with Puck. He wanted to do more than anger her. He wanted to break her, shake her, hurt her. How dare she make out with his best friend? He has done so much for her. He's the reason she actually has friends, he's the reason for her sudden spike in the social status and he's the reason she's happy. He MADE her into what she is.

So he did the opposite of making her into what she is: he broke her. He dated the girl he knew she truly hated, when she was in the halls, he made sure he was kissing Quinn, and when they were in glee club practice, he made sure to avoid her. It took days before he could talk to her as a friend, but even then, he had this smug feeling that said 'I'm all the way at the top, and without me, you're back to the bottom'. What used to be a goal-oriented girl who knew what she was all about and was confident, turned into someone who was whiny, crybaby-ish and so needy. He broke his Crystal Doll.

These were the thoughts Finn had when he broke up with Rachel. And now that Rachel stormed out, he quietly realized...if you truly loved someone, you wouldn't hurt them as much as he did. He realized how much of a jerk he was for trying to hurt her. He was so hell-bent on revenge, he could have mistaken his soul to be as black as Santana's. He didn't love her...no, he felt something for her. Maybe a crush, maybe puppy love...no, that wasn't it.

He saw her. He wanted others to see her. So he showed them. That was his good guy acting up. But when she had taken everything he did for her for granted...he lost it. He rarely got angry, so he didn't realize he was that angry at her to begin with.

This was the first time Finn Hudson ever truly tried to understand Rachel, and succeding. He never knew he thought so much of the petite brunette, but he guesses that's what happens when you lose someone. You begin to find your truly feelings. Guess that saying is true, 'You never know what you got till you lose it'.

"Finn?" Quinn's tired little voice broke Finn out of his thoughts. If he had revealed to anyone he had such deep thoughts, a joke would a probaby followed. If he had revealed it to Rachel, no doubt she would smile. "Did you...ever love me? As much as you did Rachel?"

Finn bit his lip. In all his life, honesty seemed to be the key answer. Now honesty seemed to be failing him. His previous answer to Quinn's previous question had caused her silence, and now he was afraid to answer.

But he did. As honestly as he could.

"I never loved Rachel...well, I did, maybe as a sister...or a pet, but not like in love." he explained. Damn, how could he have such thoughts a second ago and not be able to explain them out loud? "And I don't think I ever loved you in that way either."

Finn should have kept his mouth shut. He just not only revealed to Quinn that he was never in love with her, but he also revealed he didn't even care enough for Quinn to say he loved her like a sister.

This caused Quinn to bite her lip, hard. Not to prevent her from saying something she might regret. After all, she asked Finn a question and he answered truthfully. She had been the one expecting so much out of what, in the end, always was a high school puppy love relationship. She bit her lip in attempt to hold her tears back.

When she knew she couldn't keep any emotions from pouring out of her, she stood up and quietly walked out the door. Finn was sure she wouldn't be leaving to see Rachel, but leaving for herself. But Finn didn't judge her. After everything, Quinn truly believed Finn loved her. Now he just smacked down that theory.

What else could a girl who was unloved do but walk away?

* * *

Rachel herself was shocked in her words. Did Finn Hudson truly hurt her that bad? So bad, she can barely look at love the same again? Impossible. Ever since she was a kid, Rachel wanted love more than anything. Whether it was love from her dads, love from the crowd, or love from her prince. Which is maybe why she held onto Finn for so long...

Rachel sighed. She was stressed, meaning she should be excercising while listening to her 'Most Inspiring Songs' playlist on her iPod. But for some reason, her body told, no, begged her, to stay right in her room without excercising.

But she didn't want to...she felt the urge to sing. Not just any song. A song that spoke perfectly to the feeling she had this right moment. It was an unusual feeling, almost like an epiphany. She didn't realize she had felt this way before, that love suddenly became an obstacle. She wanted romance, she wanted passion and love...but she realized the kind of romance, passion and love she's been looking for did not lie in the high school world. She wanted epic romance equivilant to Romeo and Juliet's, she wanted raw passion à la Jack Dawson and Rose DeWitt Bukater, and she wanted unconditional love like Landon Carter and Jamie Sullivan (she did always want a wedding like Will and Kate Middleton, but that's besides the point). But it seemed that it was only now she had realized that such expectations for a love life were one in a million, and why would she, above all girls, get that one in a million chance? Why not Kurt or Sunshine...or Quinn and Santana?

The epiphany told her she'd have to get used to this. Loneliness.

'Snap out of this, Rach. You won't be lonely...you have your dads, Kurt, Sunshine...and possibly Noah. You do have friends.' she told herself. But what would happen after high school? It was certain Kurt and Blaine would follow her to Broadway, but what would happen if she found her friends getting married, having babies and all? No, she couldn't dwell on such things. She was a star. She lived for the stage, because even when you're solo on stage, everyone's eyes are on you and you rely on your talent. That's how she saw the world.

And what was that song again? The theme was dealing with loneliness. It had something to do with a certain Broadway show...not on its book or in the musical itself, but it was a 'bonus song' on the soundtrack of the DVD.

Ah, yes...The 2004 movie-musical 'The Phantom Of The Opera's ending theme. How could she forget it? That song helped her through some angsty times in her life.

_'Child of the wilderness..._  
_Born into emptyness_  
_Learn to be lonely_  
_Learn to be your own companion_  
_Who will be there for you?_  
_Comfort and care for you?'_

'Huh...' Rachel thought to herself as she sang. It had been a year since she last heard this song. And even then, her angsty stage lasted a week only. It was odd that she still remembered the lyrics to such a song. But then again, her brain was designed to remember lyrics like the back of her hand, for the future, in case she ends up with the lead of multiple Broadway roles.

_'Never dream out of this world..._  
_There are arms to hold you_  
_You've always known your heart was on its own..'_

Little did the diva know, as she sang as quietly as she could, one of her fathers happened to hear. And he stopped. The song certainly was...melancholic. A bit too much for his daughter's usual happy, cheery Broadway tastes. And he was certain this song wasn't for Glee because...well, there was a certain crack in her voice. As if she actually meant the words she sang. Hiram bit his lip. Was this because of the whole transferring thing? He thought he'd made the right choice by accepting her desicion, but now he's thinking he could be wrong...

'Nah...it's probably those so-called friends of hers...' Hiram thought bitterly. He had experience when it came to people who were two-faced, and being hurt by friends just because they didn't like who he was. All he hopes for is that his daughter doesn't share the same experience as he did...

* * *

Noah Puckerman did something he's never really done before, at least, not outside school: stare at the cielling boredly.

Yep, Puck liked to think he'd reach rock-bottom. It was a nice, cool Friday night outside, plenty of girls (and lonely, desperate cougars) were calling him, and there were plenty of parties Puck was invited to. Heck, he didn't even need to do all those things, he could have just went out for a couple of beers and head back home. But he didn't. He just stared boredly at the cielling.

'Damn it, Rachel...' he thought to himself, 'Why'd you have to...' he stopped his thoughts. He was going to mentally ask Rachel why did she have to switch schools. He snorted, he knew the answer to that. She hated the way people treated her. In fact, if she didn't announce any news of her exchange, the Glee kids would have probably treated her like they always have. Because they wouldn't have known it was her last day with them.

Puck rolled his eyes. 'Her last day with them', it's not like she was dead. She was just switching schools. It's not like he wouldn't be able to see her on the weekends and such...Whoa, had he just actually thought of spending the weekend with Rachel Berry?

Puck chuckled to himself. For some weird reason, the idea of spending the weekend with her didn't seem so odd. After all, he had spent some afternoons with her, getting her that pretzel she loves so much (the ones dipped in warm caramel) when she willingly gave up a solo once, actually going to Claire's with her (and mistaking a curling iron for a...vibrator, but that's besides the point) and hanging out with her and Kurt from time to time. Yep, a year ago, if someone told him he'd willingly hang out with Rachel Berry, he'd probably give him a wedgie, or shove him into a locker. Hell, the same thing would have happened if they also told him he'd listen to Berry when she said it's 'not nice' to give people wedgies.

He can't believe he was thinking this, but he would miss her. During glee and all...he wanted to be selfish and demand that she stays. After all, technically, she's literally all she has left. Mike's on his...whatever-it-is kind of relationship with Tina, Matt transferred, Sam was all butthurt about Quinn, Artie's still coping after finding out Brittany plays for Kurt's team (well, he doesn't know yet, but he will soon), Kurt's starting a new relationship with Blaine (all Puck could say about that is, finally, at least the boy's getting some), God knows he couldn't talk to Lauren or any of the other girls and Finn's all hung up on Quinn and Puck just couldn't look at Finn the same after he realized Finn was doing what Puck did years ago: mess with girls' feelings.

Well, really, it all depends on which girl. But a girl in Glee? That wasn't cool.

The worst part is Rachel might not even know just how much Puck cared about her. She might be sitting home right now, thinking she was all alone in this world.

And God knows he wouldn't want her to feel the same tomorrow so...

'Ah, why the hell not?' Puck thought. It would give him a bit of reassurance and it would cheer Berry up, even if he wasn't the best at comforting people, he knew what it took to cheer Berry up. So he grabbed his phone, and gave her a little text.

**'Tomorrow, mall, lunch...I'm taking u 2 ur favorite pretzel stand (ur buying tho) PS: I know ur sad right now, and probably singing some depressing shit but cheer up...sing that song that the freaky Daughter-Of-Chucky redhead girl sings'**

Two minutes later, he got a reply.

**'Your grammar is atrocious. I'm aware we're in a cyber world, but that doesn't mean proper writing isn't allowed. But sure, I'll go tomorrow. And I believe the 'freaky redhead girl' you are referring to is Annie's Tomorrow...and thank you, your advice actually worked :)'**

* * *

**AN: UH OH...what the hell happened to Hiram when he was a kid? Oooh, all in good time, my darlings... Ah, Finn...you and your Crystal Doll xP I know the crystal doll seems kinda random, but it's Finn. I mean, this isn't easy to say so I'm just gonna come right out and say it, but have you taken a good look at him? The boy's not exactly as deep as the Grand Canyon, but I had to have him understand the consequences of his actions. So, unfortunately, this was more of a filler. Mega Puckleberry scene next up...as you probably predicted from that last text. I kinda liked the sentence with Puck, 'She might be sitting home right now, thinking she was all alone in this world' because that's exactly what's going on in Rachel's mind. After all, she is singing a song called 'Learn to Be Lonely'. It's nice how Puck knows her enough to know what she feels without even looking at her :) oh, and that Annie thing? That little bitch really does scare the crap out of me xP Might have something to do with that afro red hair or the...creepy smile and the fact that she always, always, ALWAYS so freakin' happy...but whatever. Am I the only one who's freaked out by her? Please tell me I'm not the only one...**  
**  
**


	6. Better Than Evil

**_Better Than Revenge_  
**

**AN: Sorry for updating so late. Lack of Puckleberry inspiration...I mean, Glee Season 3 is lookin' good so far in terms of glee-ality (I think we should just pretend Season 2 never happened, aside from its Puckleberry developpment), but Puckleberry is not looking good. What are YOUR thoughts on S3? Personally, though it's looking good, I think that everything that's happening in S3 should have happened in S2...And on an unrelated note, my mouth was totally watering when I described the pretzels. Oh, why, oh why must I live in Europe, where Auntie Annie's pretzels are practically none-existant? T,T  
Just a lil' sidenote, 'Bartie' broke up during sectionals. But for an entirely different reason which you will soon see.  
_  
_**

* * *

The mall always was Rachel's least favorite hangout as a preteen. She would often go alone, and see everyone else laughing with their friends, eating ice creams and churros and other food groups Rachel was afraid to touch as a child due to her fear of it damaging her voice. If they spotted her, they would whisper behind her back. If they spotted her with one of her dads, Rachel had to endure the taunting whispers of her dads being 'fags'. In all honesty, Rachel tried to avoid the mall. But no one can really avoid it. After all, where else could she buy clothes and all?

But now, Rachel was thankful. Glee may have put her confidence down a notch, but she earned some friends, and found herself becoming a frequent visitor of the mall just like any other teenager. The very first time she ran into Puck, it was when she had her eyes on those caramel-dipped pretzels. The pretzels were ridiculously oversized that they looked like novelty pretzels instead of real ones. The buttery smell of the freshly-baked pretzels reminded Rachel of those cartoons were you could see the smell from certain foods that suddenly formed into a hand, and gesturing the cartoon's hero to follow to scent. There were heated bowls on the stand that had the flavors caramel, chocolate, strawberry and vanilla dips constantly heating up. She's always had a sweet tooth, but tried to avoid sugary products. So, she was unconciously staring at the pretzel stand, on constant battle with herself whether she should try one or not. But Puck caught her staring. It was barely a week after their junior year sectionals. And instead of poking fun at her, he encouraged her to buy the pretzel. 'If you're worried about your weight, don't worry about it. You weigh as much a a chipmunk does.' he said, and in Puck's language, that was a compliment.

Rachel smiled, knowing Puck rarely gave out compliments. So she did buy a pretzel in the end, and Puck himself bought a chocolate flavored one. And oddly enough, they decided to it down next to each other and talk. An odd experience for Rachel, who was never the one to sit down in the food court. For one, it always seemed filthy. Many popular kids would always be there. And...Rachel couldn't shake off that odd feeling she had when she sees a greasy, hairy, overweight man who would clean his stuffed nose with his arms handing unsuspecting, ignorant teenagers their food. Thankfully, Rachel got less and less paranoid as she tried eating at least one order at the different chains of the food court (while observing her food as it got prepared with an intense eye, of course), all thanks to Puck. They made it their goal that each time they visited the mall together, she would eat from a different restaurant chain everytime. Of course, though, the caramel/chocolate pretzels were traditional, and they always got them in the end.

Right now, Rachel had chili cheese fries in front of her, and looked at it as if there were bugs crawling inside. She's been staring at it in horror for five minutes, while Puck grabbed the fries like it was no biggie. "C'mon, Berry, just eat one!" Puck encouraged, his mouth full of fries.

Rachel cringed, "How do we know if the cheese isn't artificial?"

Puck rolled his eyes, "I don't know, why don't you ask the vendor?" he said sarcastically.

"Good idea, um, vendor!" Rachel said, calling out the vendor as if she would to a waiter in a restaurant and raising her hand. Puck took her hand down, "If you don't eat the fries...You won't get a pretzel." he threatened.

Rachel gasp dramatically. If it was on purpose or if she was just genuinely shocked, Puck couldn't tell. "You wouldn't!"

"I would..." Puck smirked.

"...Well, then I could just pay for the pretzel myself!" Rachel exclaimed.

"No, you wouldn't. You hate paying for stuff. You just love it when shit's free." Puck teased. Rachel crossed her arms and huffed, somewhat childishly. She hated those rare moments where Puckerman was right. It was true. She found it selfish of herself, but in a way Rachel couldn't explain, she loved it when Puck would pay for her pretzels. She wasn't sure why. She paid the other food on her own, but there was something satisfying about Puck buying her treats.

"Berry your goal was to eat one order from each stand to gain a little 'life experience' or some shit. How're you gonna do that if you're freaked out by a couple of cheese-covered fries?" Puck asked.

Rachel bit her lip. She grabbed a fry and slowly put it in her mouth, chewing it as if it were filled with poison. She had her eyes closed the whole time. When she opened, then it was over, she looked at Puck with a look of disbelief, as if she couldn't believe that she made a big fuss about it.

"...Well?" Puck asked, "You want another one don't you?"

"...No." Rachel lied.

"Rachel, if you want more, just eat the whole damn thing." Puck finally said.

Rachel didn't spare a second and grabbed another fry, smiling in delight. Puck rolled his eyes with a smile on his face. He was glad to see her smile after yesterday. At the memory, he frowned. As impressed as he was with her bravery, he hated seeing her so...upset and broken. To think that she's been hiding all those feelings for almost two years. All this time, when he was with her, that's what she felt. And to think, he was another one of those Neanderthal jocks who threw slushies at her and wouldn't care  
less if she cried.

Now he can barely think of her to be anything but happy.

"So...how are you? Since, you know, yesterday?" he finally asked. Rachel's face fell, and Puck immediately regretted asking her. Maybe it was too soon?

"I'm...better, that's for sure." Rachel said. And she was honest, which Puck was glad about. "To be honest, I don't know what to think of the whole thing. I feel like Elphaba Thropp as she leaves Shiz University and her friends to become the Wicked Witch of the West."

"...Okay, I'm not gonna lie, I don't know who or what that is." Puck admitted.

"They're the characters of Wicked the Musical, Noah! It's one of the Emmy award winning musicals, one of my top three favorite musicals and it's where the infamous 'Defying Gravity' song first originated." Rachel said excitedly, "You should watch it! I think you'd really appriciate Fiyero Tiggular's character."

"Fiyero Tigga-what? I-look, I don't know that musical, so just tell me how you're feeling. In English, not Broadway lingo." Puck said.

"Well, basically, when Elphaba leaves Shiz, all of her friends assume she became evil. I fear the same is happening to me, except I don't believe that the Glee Club thinks I'm evil, but I do believe that they think I betrayed them." Rachel explained thoughtfully, her finger on her chin as her thoughts wandered. Coming to a sudden realization, she lowered her head and slouched in her chair, as if she wanted to curl up and hide, "I guess I did betray them...in a way." she said, slightly guilty. Only slightly.

Puck bit his lip as he saw her slouch that way. He stared at his fry, realizing he lost his appetite, and it wasn't going to come back as long as Berry was like that. With a sigh, he let the fry fall on the cheese sauce, and turned his attention to Rachel, "Hey, Rach...Rachel, look at me." he commanded her as gently as he could.

With hesitant eyes, Rachel turned his attention to him. Puck immediatly regretted it. She had the eyes again. Those big, brown, lost-puppy eyes nearly in tears staring at him, begging him to save her from shedding her tears. Not only did it pressure Puck not to screw up his following words, but it also made Puck want to hit whoever made her look like that, and a part of him ached heavily. "No one thinks you betrayed them, okay? And if they do, then fuck them! We were the ones who treated you like crap, you were the one to put up with it! I mean, sure you're batshit crazy but evil? Nah...but whatever anyone says, you're not evil, you didn't betray anybody and don't let anyone else make you think you did!" Puck told her, occasionally stabbing his finger down on the table for emphasis.

Okay, he knew he sounded like a fucking motiviational speaker and he was _really_getting it to it, but shit, Berry's the onlt one who's ever gonna see this, what does it matter?

Rachel smiled. Puck just looked so serious and caring at the same time, she couldn't help but be impressed. He was the perfect combination of strict and loving, and best of all, he just had that unbelievable effect on her that made her feel so much better. With this in mind, she can't help but think that Puck would have made the perfect...

Rachel's face fell once more, "I'm sorry..." she whispered.

Puck was confused. First she was smiling, now she was sad again. "About what?" he asked.

"...For mentioning Beth yesterday." Rachel said, currently feeling guiltier than she ever did. Sure, some words were said yesterday that Rachel knew she just wouldn't be able to bring herself to regret saying since it was the truth, but the only thing she regretted was mentioning Beth in front of Puck.

"Oh..." Puck said as his own face fell, "It's no big deal, I mean, I don't care..." he lied. Weird how bad of a liar he was in front of Rachel.

"Noah, please understand, I never meant to hurt you! I would never think of doing so, it's just that I was so angry with Quinn, I just wanted to hit her where it hurts, a-and I wasn't thinking straight and B-Beth popped into my mind and I didn't know what else to say..." Rachel said as fast as she could. She noticed Puck was trying hard not to look upset, but failed when she saw him staring into nothing, as he tended to do sometimes. "Noah...it's okay if you're upset. I would be, too. But I'm sorry about it and..."

"Rachel..." Puck started. He tore his eyes away from the emptyness he's been staring at and focused on Rachel, "You talk way too much." he grinned.

Rachel smiled in relief as she found Puck's teasing nature back again. "Look, fine, I'll admit it...I was a bit upset about Beth. But you didn't do anything wrong. You said the truth. Quinn's been a bitch about it and sometimes I wonder if she even remembers we had a baby together. She hasn't spoken to me since. Whatever, I'm over it, so just forget it. And you don't need to be sorry for anything." Puck reassured.

Rachel was about to protest. She was positive Puck wasn't 'over it', and neither was Quinn, she knew, despite the act they've been playing since the beginning of the year. But she knew that now wasn't the best place to talk about it. She wasn't going to 'forget it', she will bring it up later, but not now. Too much was going on right now, and right now, Puck was her only shoulder to cry on. Realizing this, she gave him a warm smile, "You really are like Fiyero Tiggular..." she commented.

"Is this Fiyero guy some fruity guy in that Wicked musical of yours wearing tights?" Puck said, slightly disgusted that Rachel would even compare him to someone involved with Broadway.

"Well, to be fair, Fiyero doesn't wear tights, nor do I think of him as 'fruity'. He is actually the epitome of a rebellious man in the imaginary era of Oz, much like you are." Rachel said, "But after everyone else thinks Elphaba is the Wicked Witch of the West, Fiyero believes she is innocent and good despite all evidence proving otherwise." Of course, Fiyero's love for Elphaba Thropp proved to be the reason he still believed in her, but Rachel left that last part out. The last thing she needs is for one of her now-only friends to think she was romantically interested in him and to scare him off. Granted, it's hard to imagine Puck actually being scared of anything. He was a badass. He's literally been in fights since he was a baby (which is probably why his mother stopped taking him to the park, because no one could figure out how a _baby_crawled out of his stroller, stole another baby's binky and repeatedly smacked him with it), been watching the scariest movies since he was two and was the only preschooler to know about sex and STDs. Maya Puckerman can't even count the number of preschools and daycare centers her 'baby boy' was kicked out of due to him explaining in graphic detail why sixty-nine wasn't just a number.

But somehow, Rachel was always afraid that, like so many others, she would scare Puck into running away from her. She has that effect on people. Sometimes, she has a tendency about talking about her life. But she only did that because she assumed that's what friends do. They tell each other about everything. And in return, she would listen to them talk. She was just as good a listener as she was a talker, though she enjoyed talking far more. Also, she knew she overreacts often. But maybe that's just her hopes getting up. New girl in school? Might be her new best friend! New boy in school? Might be someone who will finally overlook her flaws...and fall for her.

Rachel was rational. So she knew the chances of finding a soulmate in high school were slim. Still...every movie, book, musical, story she's ever known involving the best of romances happened in high school, or the very least, college. And it made Rachel indulge in an everyday fantasy that she would bump into someone and they'd have an instant connection, just like in the movies.

But of course, you can't always get what you want.

And Noah Puckerman will deny it if you tell anyone, but he liked listening to Rachel. Don't ask him why. All of her stories were usually batshit crazy and weird, but he did enjoy listening to them. Who knew that show choir and competition brought out Berry's badassness? Itching powder in a girl's tutu? Getting a teacher fired? Shipping some foreign exchange student to a crackhouse?

"About yesterday...before glee rehersals, I was kind of a dick to you. And I guess you were having a shitty day...so I was basically making it worst." Puck began in the humblest voice he could muster. But Puck was not a humble man, so it came out sounded fake.

But fortunately, for a girl like Berry, she'll eat anything up. "I understand. I mean, I wish you would refrain from comparing yourself to male genitalia, but I really dp understand. When I broke up with Finn, I wasn't myself either. I took peoples' insults much more seriously, I critisized every single flaw I made and I admit that I sometimes spent at least five minutes everyday in front of a mirror and judging myself for a long time." she admitted.

Difficultly so, if she might add. It wasn't like her to admit how weak the breakup made her feel. But something about Noah insured her she could tell him anything and not have him tell it to the whole Glee club.

Puck's eyes slightly widened. He didn't know the breakup was that bad at the time. "Rach, you-" "No, it's fine." Rachel assured. Puck rarely called her 'Rach'. It was one of those times when he would sentimental that he did. And although Rachel absolutely loved his soft side, she didn't want to talk about what she had just said. "What I meant to say was that everybody has different ways of dealing with heartaches. People are rarely themselves when they are hurt. Who are we to question what people do when they're not themselves?"

Puck gave a slight smile that quickly disappeared. Berry was awfully good at understanding other peoples' point of views, but he couldn't shake off that feeling he had when she told him how Finn made her feel. Well, to be fair, it was the breakup, really, and not Finn. But Finn's part of that reason, obviously.

"Do you know what I think?" Rachel asked.

"Probably not." Puck answered. And if he did, Rachel would have probably used more words than he preferred.

"I think that you weren't romantically attracted to Lauren. I think that the mere fact that Lauren Zizes was a girl you couldn't get made it a challenge for you, something you haven't been aquainted with for so long. Knowing a man of your personality, you couldn't resist a good challenge, but somewhere along the way, you might have mistaken that for actual attraction." Rachel

"Sounds like you know all this from personal experience, Berry." He said. Honestly, the only downside to hanging out with Berry, in Puck's mind, other than her Broadway chatter, was the fact that he seemed to grow a mangina every time he hung out with her.

And truthfully, Rachel did know it from experience. Why else did she chase Finn? Maybe at some point, she did have feelings for him. But who wouldn't? He was a teenaged girl's dream. Most popular guy in school, yet kind, caring, handsome...He was a trophy boyfriend. Something to show off next time the cheerleaders decided to call her a 'dateless wonder'. But she was sure she had feelings for him. But perhaps they weren't as epically strong as she had hoped.

"Maybe I do." she admitted, then with a little smile, "You never are the same person outside of McKinley."

"Hey! I resent that! I'm still a BAMF, in or out of school!" Puck protested, despite the fact that he knew she was somewhat right.

"Perhaps you are, but you sometimes reveal a softer side not many people might have seen." she said as she took a sip of her drink.

"But that doesn't mean I'm growing into a pussy, right?" Puck asked, you know, just to be sure. You can never be too careful.

"Of course not! But just because you have a soft side doesn't make you any less...well, you," she decided on, not wanting to copy Noah's crass language "it makes you human."

"Still, s'not good for my rep, you know? Chicks don't go crazy over soft sides." Puck answered.

"On the contrary. The reason many girls love the 'bad boys' is because they all want to be the one girl who can bring out their soft side. They want to be the one who sees that underneath all that troublemaking and bad persona lies someone deep and loving, only for her." Rachel explained, with a little gleam in her eyes. Though she wasn't really into bad boys (ironically since Puck is one of her closest friends), she had to admit that the aspect of being able to bring out someone's soft side was rather romantic.

"So why don't they just go after the wusses instead of finding the 'inner wuss' in a badass?"

"Well, for one, the uncovering of a soft side is much more romantic. But don't get me wrong, there are girls who love sweet boys, too. Like Tina, for example. And...me, I suppose." Rachel said, thinking a bit about Finn at this point.

All Puck could think was...'Finn? Sweet?' Finn Hudson was not sweet. Just dumb. Really, really, _really_dumb. Maybe last year, he could still classify as the kind of 'adorable' dumb girls love, but now he kinda acted like a dumb douche. And at some other time, he would have mentioned that. But maybe not now.

"Well, whatever you say, Berry, but you're the only one who's seen my wuss side, and it's gonna stay like that." Puck promised himself as drank his soda.

"It's 'soft side', not 'wuss side', Noah. And don't worry, you'll find some other girl than myself, fall for her and you'll show her Noah, not just Puck." Rachel smiled.

"Never gonna happen." Puck insisted. He found it hard to believe that something like that would happen.

But he didn't even noticed that it was already happening right before his very eyes.

* * *

Santana Lopez was proud about a lot of things. She was proud of being able to recognize who she is, a bitch. Most girls act like a fucking saint all the time but behind everybody's backs they're getting backdoor-fucked behind a local Gas N' Gulp. She was proud of her parents. They lived in Lima Heights Adjacent for so long, the technically 'ghetto' part of Lima, but her old man managed to get his shit together and become a doctor. Now she's not just a bitch, she's a bitch with killer health insurance and a cherry red Mercedes. Go figure. She's also proud of saying she can hold herself in a fight. She's never been with a fight against a guy. Not physical. But every fight she gets with a guy, be it verbal or ending with her smashing her stiletto heels against the guy's balls, it would end with him crying to his mama. And with girls? Oh, she can do twice the damage. In fact, she could hurt people in so many ways and do her nails at the same time.

But one thing she was proud of, but not saying it out loud quite yet, was her girlfriend, Brittany.

Or at least, her soon-to-be girlfriend.

Frankly, she didn't know what they were yet. She wasn't ready to come out yet, but Brittany knew that Santana was hers. So, you could call it 'secretly dating'...?

Well, something like that.

And something Brittany Pierce was proud of, other than her body, her dance skills, her secret girlfriend and Lord Tubbington, was her keen ability to find the right romantic matches in the glee club.

Or...to put it in Brittany speak, 'The Penguin Match'.

It all came down when Brittany and Santana watched_ Happy Feet_(Santana will never admit this, but she's replayed Brittany Murphy's version of 'Boogie Wonderland' more than you could ever imagine). The whole 'penguins use their songs to win over other penguins' thing really got to Britt, who finally came with a conclusion while watching the scene where every penguin tries to win over the most talented penguin, Gloria, with their own songs.

"Rachel is Gloria." she told Santana during the movie, who gave Brittany an 'are you serious?' look. She loved her Brit-Brit, but for the love of her, she can't see how Brittany could compare the apparently 'hottest penguin in the arctic' to Berry.

"No, don't you see? It's not about how sexy Gloria is! It's about how, when she sings, everybody like, totally falls in love with her. And Finn, Puck and Jesse have all tried singing to Rachel to impress her. But since there's like, so many of them who tried to impress her, Rachel's got no clue who to choose." Brittany explained.

And you know what? It actually made sense to Santana. Brittany was right. It's like Rachel automatically became a hot-ass bitch the second she went into the glee club. All relationship drama revolved around her. So it did explain a helluva lot.

"So, Britt, who do _you_think is Rachel's Mumble? Because if it's a guy who can dance like Mumble, we can cross out Custard Tits for sure." Santana said.

"No...Finn is Seymour. The fat one that always tries to get with Gloria, but in the end, Rachel'll find her Mumble." Brittany concluded.

"Who is...?" Santana asked, trying to contain her amusement from Brittany indirectly calling Finnocence 'fat'.

"I don't know yet. I'll tell you when I know." Brittany promised as she smiled at her. Santana smiled back. No matter how childish the explination seemed, Santana knew she was right, and rested her head on Brittany's shoulder as they continued watching the movie. The whole 'Penguin Match' thing was over a few months ago. But since then, Brittany's made some interesting comments. Like when she and Artie were together, she claimed that no one in the glee club, not even Mr Schue, has found their penguins yet, which made her sad a little. She used to make fun of all of them, but now she wanted everyone to be as happy as she was (secretly) with San.

And it was now going to start with Puckleberry.

"Puck is Mumble." Brittany muttered out of a sudden.

She and Santana were in the line to get some coffee, when Brittany spied, out of the corner of her eye, Puck and Rachel sitting at a table far away. And Brittany couldn't put her mind on it, but Puck looked...way different now than he was earlier with Rachel. He looked, dare she say it, softer, kinder and...well, happier.

Santana turned to her girlfriend, confused, "What?"

"Remember a few months ago, we watched Happy Feet, and we talked about Rachel being Gloria and Finn being Seymour and we didn't know who was Mumble yet?" Brittany reminded her.

How could she ever forget that? "Yes! I remember," Santana chuckled, "why?"

"I think that Puck is Mumble..." Brittany said. When she said this, she pointed at the table where she saw Puckleberry. Santana dropped her jaw. They were...laughing together! Happy! Joking around! Her evil guy twin was happy with the midget!

"No fuckin' way! Puckasauraus and Rup-I mean, Glori-I mean, _Rachel_?" Santana exclaimed. Great. Now she might start calling Berry 'Gloria'. "Britt, you do realized you just compared Berry to a hot penguin that all the other guys want to do and Puck to a loser penguin, right?"

"...Well, Rachel is the girl that we all know is gonna become, like, the next Broadway Princess and Puck's the guy everyone thinks is a Lima Loser but he's not. They look like Gloria and Mumble to me..." Brittany said.

'Shit, how does she make so much sense?' Santana wondered. But as she looked at Puckleberry, she had to admit, she's impressed. Rachel managed to make Puck look like he's genuinely happy, like 'could remember this for the rest of my life, Kodak moment, will sing about it in the future' happy. Just like how she was with Brittany. And Puck managed to get that stick out of Berry's ass and she actually looked like a normal teenager.

Ha. That's funny. For a brief moment, they weren't doing anything. Puck just stared at Rachel, who had this weird look in her eyes and was totally doing this weird, smirking-lip-biting thing with her lips and...

"Holy...sweet...hell, Berry's eye-fucking Puck!" Santana gasped, tapping Brittany's shoulder so she would see.

"Does that mean Rachel's eyes aren't virgins anymore?" Brittany asked.

"No, it means you were right!" Santana exclaimed, as Brittany clapped her hands happily knowing she was right. How the hell did she not notice this before? _This_ is why Puck took a slushy to his face! _This_ is why Puck sang his first solo to her! _This_ is why Puck gave up football for her! _This_is why Puck stood up for Rachel during sectionals and...

Sweet Jesus, _this is why she went batshit crazy with Aretha and Tubbers but she didn't do that with Berry!_

It was always Rachel...always. The only one who tamed Puck. Santana smelled trouble with 'Quick' and 'Puckcedes' so she stopped it. But she didn't do anything to Puckleberry. That's because it felt natural, like it was actually meant to now, Berry's in a complicated place since she broke up with Frankenteen, and Puck still probably thinks that Rachel's still gung-ho about Finn. And when you got two people like that, they're never going to get together.

"...Know what, Britt?" Santana said as she kept her eyes on them.

"What?" Brittany asked, a bit worriedly, she might add. Because she recognized that evil little smirk of her girlfriend and she can already feel her brain making up some kind of sick, twisted plan.

"I think we've messed with Berry long enough. I think we owe her some kind of an apology, and maybe opening her eyes to what's in front of her's the right way to do it." Santana said, with the corner of her lips forming some kind of evil bitch smirk. She put her free hand on her hip and sipped her latte, and already she knew who to call before she could set her plan in motion.

"...San, you're a genius." Brittany smiled at her.

It merely took that, and in less than one second, Brittana found themselves sitting in front of Puckleberry.


	7. Better Than Being Insecure

If they had to be perfectly honest, they were a lost cause from the beginning. Tina was so insecure and scared and Mike was too insensitive. Tina liked to think despite this, they might have had a good chance to be together.

Tina thought it was rather ironic. One day, she found herself rolling her eyes at Rachel Berry's expense. She remembered thinking that Rachel was so gung-ho on the whole idea of a 'fairytale high-school relationship' that Rachel was too blind to notice that her relationship with Finn was a sinking ship. She remembered being disappointed. She always respected the diva despite her hate, but Rachel's ignorance made Tina roll her eyes everytime. 'What does she think this is? Grease? High School Musical? Some John Hughes or Diablo Cody movie, where the 'outcast' somehow ends up with Mr. Popular?' Tina remembered thinking, 'Or if they had an ounce of chemistry together, it might work out...but they don't. So, she can't possibly think she and Finn would last, right?'

And then after her very words, she realized she was a hypocrite. She was the goth girl who changed herself to please her football playing boyfriend. Tina suddenly wondered in horror if she had been experiencing 'Finchel Syndrome', also known as 'girl so in love with her man-candy, she doesn't realized she's in a bad relationship.'

Wait, no, that was not fair. Mike never cheated or never mistreated her. But no one can help their feelings, even if it was unwNted.

And that's when she realized the lingering looks from Mike directed at a certain cheerleader. And all she could do was wonder how long has this been going on? Had those looks been there this whole time? Did she not notice it?

It didn't help that her parents were going through the same problem. Her mother had apparently caught her father cheating on her. Now Tina wakes up to the sound of her parents constantly fighting.

...And it was only a couple of days ago that her mother announced she kicked her father out.

Surprised? Well, Tina is quiet. Not only in glee, but everywhere. She didn't scream at her parents for waking her at two in the morning or because she had to buy new dishes because they kept throwing everythihg. She never protested when others whined for solos even though no one noticed she has never had a complete solo. She didn't know whether she chose to keep quiet or if it was a habit. Just like that Florence and the Machine song said, she liked to keep her issues drawn.

But even she had her limits. When Mike spoke out about that popularity thing, she couldn't help but yell at him. She knew he liked someone else and it was no use in denying it. She knew that it was unfair, but she was just so...sick of everything.

She didn't exactly know what she was doing, though. She felt like a zombie, just walking around mindlessly. She just wanted to walk...even if it was at six in the morning, when no one was up and the sun was barely rising. She didn't sleep last night with so many thoughts rushing through her head, which is why she felt like walking at the crack of dawn. She felt like it kept her mind off some things.

But eventually, her thoughts were interrupted as she heard someone calling out to her.

"Tee!" Artie called out to her, waving his hand. Tina turned and saw her ex-boyfriend wheeling his way beside her. Tina didn't even notice how great her smile was, "Hey..." she greeted.

By some miracle, she actually managed to stay friends with Artie. Probably because of the double dates he and Brittany used to have with her and Mike. Tina, by habit, immediately went behind Artie and began wheeling him down the street with her. She remembered when she used to date him, this is how most of their 'walks' happened. But she didn't mind. Her walks with him were always fun.

"Hey...are you okay? You look...tired." Artie said.

"Thanks for telling me I look like shit in the most sugar-coated way you can think of." Tina grinned. It was funny hearing Tina swear sometimes. But Artie, who has seen the best and worst of Tina, was used to it.

"No problem." Artie joked, "Listen, about you and Mike-"

"Don't even." Tina threatened, suddenly stopping, "I do not want to discuss Michael Chang for the rest of the week-end and if you so much as imply him or his name, I will push you off a cliff."

Artie gulped. He had known first-hand how scary Tina can be when she was mad, "Sorry, I just...wanted to see if you were okay, that's all..." Artie said softly. But he also remembered how Tina could go from mad to forgiving in a second. She shrugged, "I'm sorry. Just in a...bad mood."

"Yeah, I noticed. Ever since Rachel's freakout and you lashed out at Mike like that, I figured something was going on." he said.

Tina abruptley stopped. Why, Artie had no idea. And suddenly, Tina admitted something, "You know what? I wanna skip school."

Artie's eyes widened slightly. No, Tina wasn't exactly a goody two shoes. But with her perfect attendance record and all, he didn't exactly expect her to want to skip school just out of the blue.

"I wanna spend the whole day geeking out. I wanna watch reruns of The Walking Dead, I wanna watch Star Wars and compare Honey Boo Boo's mother to Jabba the Hutt, I wanna spend hours playing Skyrim and Dragon Origins. And you know what? I think I deserve it." Tina admits. And it's true, she did. She's put up with so much crap for a while now, she needed a whole day to herself.

Artie grinned, "Well, we can do all of those things at my place. But only one one condition: you tell me why the sudden urge to geek out."

Tina nodded slightly, "You're right, but...just keep it between us, okay?" she pleaded. Artie nodded, "Come on, girl, I play an assassin on Skyrim, I think I can keep a secret."

She giggled. She hadn't told anyone this yet. Hell, she hasn't even said it out loud because she refused to believe it. But Mike's eyes told her that she could deny it all she wants, but it wouldn't stop being true.

"Mike's in love with Quinn." 

* * *

What? Do Other Asian and Tubbers even know each other?

That's what some might say. But they don't know enough about Quinn Fabray or Mike Chang to ask that.

Quinn Fabray was not the type of person who liked to have her mistakes constantly on the back of her mind. As she knew it, what's done is done, and the only thing Quinn could do was move on and learn from her mistakes. Whether she ever learned was truly a mystery to her. Quinn honestly didn't know how to react anymore. She thought she had grown up by this time, but she didn't. And honestly, she is so tired of feeling like she's nothing without her Daddy's credit card. Even more tired of feeling like her single mother is doing everything she can to keep a roof over their heads and Quinn was just standing there, doing nothing.

So what began as a mindless walk outside became a trip to the mall, when she bumped into, wouldn't you know it? Mike Chang.

The truth is, Mike Chang and Quinn Fabray had more of a history than one would have expected. How is that? Well, Mike knew Fabray.

Before Quinn. When she was Lucy.

When the small Asian boy was being mocked for being a 'chink', the 'overweight' girl had met him and a small friendship formed between the two outcasts. Mike found out that Lucy was funnier than expected, and Lucy found out that Mike had killer dance moves. There was a time that Mike would have even gone as far as saying that Lucy was his best friend. And...maybe even more.

But then she disappeared.

He tried looking for her, in her house, places she used to go to, but just like that, Lucy Q. Fabray immediately disappeared from the face of the earth. And sure, Mike was angry. Angry she would leave without saying goodbye. Did she even consider his feelings in all of this? Did she know that Mike once got a B, A FREAKIN' B ON A TEST, because he was once so preoccupied with thoughts of his former best friend? No. And apparently she didn't care. So as the years grew by, Mike started to do sports, which eased his mind, distracted him, gave him a way to let his anger out and it surprisingly brought out some hot abs. Puberty was just THAT kind to him. Next thing he knew, girls were at his feet begging him to go out with them.

And every time he held a girl's hand, or laughed with her, or dated her, or...kissed her, the image of the innocent and shy little girl he once knew crossed his mind. But with time, he figured, he would forget her.

That's when, in his sophomore year, he moved and attended a little school called McKinley High. Guess who was the first person he saw as soon as he opened the door?

Lucy. Only she wasn't Lucy anymore.

He gaped as he saw her. And for a second, she saw him too, and dropped her own jaw. But neither of them moved. They had changed so much...

In front of Mike was no longer the chubby brunette with pigtails and glasses. He wouldn't have recognized her...if it not for two things. Her eyes, a faint hazel-green that he could never forget, for those eyes had haunted him daily, and the gold necklace with a Christian cross hanging around her neck. Mike got it for her a year after they met for her birthday, knowing she was really into her faith. But despite the change, the newly dyed blonde hair, the nose job, the incredible weight loss and the lack of glasses, oddly enough, the fact that she had that necklace after all these years shocked him.

"Quinn, come on!" one of her friends told her as the group of friends she had walked away. And solemnly, she walked away with them, ignoring Mike.

In her eyes, Mike had changed, too. From the scrawny little Asian boy to someone who was not only handsome, but just so hot. He had been working out now, Quinn was sure of it. And this was the boy who once swore that he would rather stay at home and mimic dance moves on Best Dance Crew USA than work out with a bunch of stupid jocks.

But the fact that Quinn had walked away, and Mike hadn't ran after her proved one thing: Lucy didn't just change into Quinn, ans Mike didn't just change into a jock...their friendship had ended without them even fighting for it.

But something happened. Quinn joined Glee Club, and to be honest, Mike wouldn't have even considered going there if it weren't for her. Turns out that Glee Club was the best thing that ever happened to him. Slowly, but surely, he reconnected with Quinn, but none of them spoke of their past. Instead, they talke to each other as if they had never met. He showed off his dance skills. He met Tina, who, don't get him wrong, will always have a special place in his heart for all that she's done for him. But lately Tina's noticed the quiet little stares Mike gave Quinn, or the way Quinn interacted with Mike at times. With uncertainty and tried hard to avoid him, but in the inevitable moments in which they were forced to be together, a side of Quinn that Tina never saw was shown.

He never meant to hurt Tina, though.

So when Mike bumped into Quinn that day at the mall, he froze.

"Q-Quinn..." he stuttered. Quinn bit her lip, equally unsure of what to say. It's not like they could pretend that they didn't see each other and avoid eye contact, they literally _bumped_ into each other. It's not like she could attempt to avoid him, he already said her name. And they could certainly not pretend that they didn't know each other. They were in freakin' glee club, together. All those times they saw each other and avoided each other, they couldn't do it again.

All those times Quinn locked eyes with Mike then quickly looked away, she wondered if he looked away for the same reason that she did; because they just didn't know what to say...

"Mike! Hi!" Quinn said, a little too perky out of shock, "Why...are you doing here?"

Quinn mentally slapped herself. 'Well, that was the stupidest thing I've ever said...' she thought.

"I needed to take my mind off some things." he answered. Quinn muttered an 'oh' and remembered Tina. "Right, of course. About Tina, I guess?"

"Sort of. A mix of things, Tina, Rachel's freakout yesterday and..." 'You.' Mike wanted to say, but he kept his mouth shut. This is the most that they've talked to each other since they were kids and as nervous as he was, he was excited about it.

"Right, that was pretty surprising how Berry blew up yesterday." Quinn agreed, "But then again, I guess I can't exactly blame her. I mean, we have been pretty awful to her. Well, mostly me."

Mike frowned, "Don't say that, we've all had our problems with her."

"Yeah, but I was the worst." Quinn admitted, "I've been horrible to her..."

Mike bit his lip. Clearly, Quinn felt bad about this, but she didn't know how to feel. Feeling sorry for being mean to a girl she hated? That was tough. It wasn't easy in any way. Mike sighed, and put a hand on Quinn's shoulder. This was the first physical contact they had in years, and no, glee club rehersals did not count.

"Look, at least you admit that you were wrong. Most girls wouldn't have the decency to admit it, but now that you did, you can start fresh with Rachel. Maybe the next time you see her, apologize, maybe?" Mike suggested.

Quinn smiled, and did something rather bold, "Would you mind...just walking around with me? After yesterday, I just really need someone to talk to."

Quinn Fabray and Mike Chang. No one suspected it. No one even knew it.

But right then and there, Mike smiled back and answered, "Lead the way, Fabray."

Quinn tried not to show her delight as Mike unintentionally called her the way he did in preschool. 

* * *

"Hey, Puck, Rachel!" Brittany chirped. The two were confused. Rachel wondered if Brittany had any memory of what ha happened between her and the glee club just yesterday. Apparently, things like a Grand Berry Freakout went past Brittany's mind. And wherever the blonde went, the fiery Latina was surely not too far behinx.

"...Brittany." Rachel whispered. She felt awkward around Brittany, who is one of the people she has filed under 'Undetermined'. True, Brittany was naïve and sweet. But there are times when the blonde was a bit of a hypocrite, claiming to be sweet and untolerating of bullying, yet she has done her fair share of bullying. Rachel can't forget those comments Brittany made about Quinn last year during Babygate. Or the comments towards her and the 'tough love' she's had from Brittany.

"Berry." Santana said behind Brittany. She didn't like awkward moments (then again, who did?) but she rarely had them, due to her blunt nature. She never had to worry about people liking her or not. It's either black or white, yes or now, clear or unfocused for her. Whatever the verdict, she was fine with it. Meaning she hardly ever apologized to anyone. The only time she did was to Brittany. But if the Grand Berry Freakout proved anything, it's that...well, let's just say out of the thousands of people Santana has mocked, she had only felt sorry for one.

And Berry's silent response was unnerving to Santana. It was a sign that while it make take some time, Berry might forgive Brittany, because deep down, she knew Brittany was kind-hearted. Santana, on the other hand...

"So, are you happy yet?" Brittany asked carefully as if she was talking to a hurt child as opposed to a girl in high school, "I mean, now that you've found Mumble and your Heartsong. I mean, most penguins are happy after they found their Heartsong, right?"

"I...uh, excuse me?" Rachel asked in confusion, while at the same time, Puck asked, "What did she just call me?"

Realizing Rachel might pick up on the Puck/Mumble comparison, Santana tried to save face as soon as possible, "Uh, Brittany? Do you think you and Puckerman could get some churros?"

"Okay!" Brittany nodded, tugging on Puck's sleeve, "C'mon, Mumble, we have to go!"

Puck was confused for a while and actually didn't want to go. No way in hell was he leaving Berry with _Santana_, of all people. But before he could say no, Brittany quickly turned to Rachel, "Oh, and Gloria? I realize during your Heartsong that you're really sad. Like, really, really sad. So sad, it's not even funny. And I want you to know if I have ever made you feel as sad that I'm sorry and it won't ever happen again. I really do want us to be friends. Actually, I always thought we were, but I know now that I haven't been a good friend...but if you let me, I can make it up to you. Forgive me?" Brittany pleaded.

Santana stared in awe. It was amazing. For most people, apologizing and asking forgiveness was one of the hardest things to do. But for Brittany, it came naturally. She was so heartfelt and sincere and her apologies came straight from the heart. Her pride, dignity and ego didn't exactly take over Brittany, but during apologies, it wasn't even present. Whereas the Latina didn't give a crap whether people liked her or not, Brittany hated being hated and made a point to befriend everyone, even if it means giving apologies. 'How do you do it, Britt?' Santana asked herself, 'How do you say sorry and make it sound so easy?'

As for Rachel, she gave a small smile. Brittany was always a good person at heart, she knew that. She ignores the fact that Brittany won't seem to stop calling her Gloria, though. This apology proved it so much more, "Thank you...Brittany, and of course I forgive you. I wouldn't have it any other way." she smiled.

Brittany gave an ecstatic smile as she reached out for a hug. A hug from Brittany Pierce was legendary and known to always make you feel good, something even she knew. And that hug proved Puck that Brittana wasn't here for any malicious behaviour...at least, he hoped not.

Like a mental conversation only using facial expressions, Puck 'asked' Brittany if Santana was going to be good and Brittany have a 'don't worry' look. Before they left, Puck shot Rachel an 'I'll be back' look while Brittany gave a warning 'Behave' to Santana.

For a brief moment, neither one said anything at all. Rachel looked at Santana, wondering what she was thinking. And Santana avoided Rachel's gaze...but she knew she couldn't run away forever, so she finally looked at Rachel, "She's talking about your speech during glee, you know."

"..." Rachel stayed silent, not sure of what she was supposed to say. Thankfully, Santana was more than happy to explain, "In the movie, they talked about how whe the penguins find their Heartsongs, they express themselves in ways they couldn't before. And since that day was the first gime you really did express yourself, well, she's calling it your Heartsong."

"I don't understand, why are you talking to me about penguins and...heart songs?" Rachel asked.

"Wait, you never saw Happy Feet?" Santana asks and Rachel shakes her head. 'Well, that explains it.' Santana tells herself. And yet another moment of silence is added. You could feel the tension in the air. Unsure of what to say, Santana finally decided it was now or never to apologize. And then...

"I don't regret it, you know." Rachel said. Santana looks up from the table to meet Rachel's brave and surprisingly fearless eyes. She stares deep into Santana's eyes as if she was locked into them, making her next point very clear, "What I said. About Quinn or Finn or Mercedes or anyone, including you."

Santana would be lying if she said that didn't hurt. To know and acknowledge that you're a bitch is fine, but when one of the most forgiving person she knew is so fed up with her she won't even apologize for what she said, Santana began to wonder if she wasn't just a bitch but one of the mean girls who were the reasons some kids killed themselves.

"I don't regret it because I know if I didn't say anything, you'd all treat me the same way, like you always do. Maybe you'll keep treating me the same but at least I've made my thoughts about it very clear." Rachel said firmly. Yes, she was a bit scared. But she saw that the Latina wasn't so brave herself, and Rachel knew it was because of what she said. Rachel was surprise her words could affect people so much but was glad to see it done. Did she regret hurting their feelings? Yes and no. No one likes to see anyone get hurt (unless they have severe issues with said person) but they hurt her feelings so many times that she felt it only right to hurt theirs for once.

"Yeah, I know." Santana admits. She doesn't try to deny it because it's true. Rachel tried to hide her surprise at the cheerleadsr actually agreeing with her. "Others might say you acted like a complete bitch but I know the difference between being a complete bitch and just being pushed over the edge."

"I thought you were pushed over the edge. That's why you act the way you do." Rachel said. Santana nods solemnly, "Yeah. You could say it was that..."

A brief silence came once again and Rachel honestly didn't know what Santana Lopez wanted from her. And as for Santana, she tried looking for the right words to say. And when she finally did, she took a deep breath.

"I don't want you to end up like me." Santana admitted. Rachel stared at Santana in confusion, who later clarified what she meant, "Bitches aren't born this way. They're pushed. And don't get me wrong, it would be totally badass if you became like me, but I don't want you to end up with the hidden frustrations in you all the time. As in, if you were a complete bitch, you would have told everyone in Glee club that I was gay."

Rachel staggered back a bit. Santana has never told this out loud to anyone but Brittany but she willingly told this to a girl who was angry with her. Before Rachel could deny knowing anything, Santana cut her off, "Look, I know you know. I was sure you knew ever since...well, forever. You got some freaky psychic shit going on in your head and you knew since at least last year."

Rachel silently stared at her own hands, unsure of what to say. "I was never going to tell anyone...it's not my place."

Santana nodded. "I know...so, listen, I'm about to do something extraordinarily rare, but after I'm done, you better keep your mouth shut because I'll deny it if you tell anyone: For starters, thank you for not telling. You had a lot of anger back there and I know what a lot of anger does, you can't confrol what you say but somehow, you did. And...I'm sorry. I'll admit, saying sorry is one of the few things I'm not good at because I don't apologize. But I don't want anyone else becoming an angry bitch like me because I was a bitch to them. As much as I hate like 99% of the world, I don't think I'd wish that anyone. But I am, really. Sorry for the things I did, the things I said...most of them were because I actually thought you rocked the stage better than anyone and I...kinda hated you for that. So sorry."

It was a half-assed apology, Santana knew. But she was hoping to at least go from 'hate to dislike' in Berry's list.

"I know you're insecure." Rachel said. Next thing she knew, Santana opened her mouth to protest, but Rachel cut her off, "And don't deny it. It takes one to know one, right?...But I'll tell you right now, it does not give you the right to mock others because have you ever considered that they might be just as insecure as you are and you're only making it worst?"

Santana bit her lip and nodded solemnly, unable to look at Rachel. It reminded her of those times when she went to confess her sins to the local church. The way the priest would look down on her like he was talking to 'Satan' and not 'Santana' himself felt horrible and it was also the same look her dad would sometimes give her when he tells her he heard another rumor that his daughter was sleeping with this boy or that boy. She hated when people tried to teach her some moral value as if they were any better. It was like, 'What right do you have to tell me these things? What makes you so fuckin' special that everyone has to listen to you and take your advice?'

But in some cases, Santana knew when they were right.

"Yeah, I know, but.." Santana paused. She swore she could feel herself choking up, not crying, but choking up, "I mean, I'm working on it and I'm trying to change, but it's getting really hard lately."

Rachel sympathized with her. She saw that the Latina did want to change somewhere deep down, but changing yourself completely is harder said than done. "You don't have to change everything. I propose that you keep your...'witty' little comments and tendency to speak whatever is on your mind. I feel most people should be more confident than not but I also suggest that you tone down your insults towards others. It may not be easy at first, but with baby steps, you can do it, you know."

"...Are you saying you'll help me?" Santana asked.

Rachel took a deep breath before answering, "I'm saying I'll help you use your evil, conniving powers for good. And I'm also saying that while I do accept your apology, I need you to understand that it may take some time for us to be even remotely close to being friends."

Santana smirked. It wasn't much. Hell, it was barely anything. But she was forgiven and Berry was actually considering being friends, well, in a future time. And that was good enough for her.

"You got yourself a deal, Berry."

* * *

**AN: Yes, Fabang. Why?...Because look up Youtube videos on them and see how great they could have been together. Anyway, I'll admit, Fabang won't happen as fast as the other couples might. I want more development between the two and something with Quinn needs to be done before anything. **

**Other than that, who is watching Season 4? So far, I'm loving Single!Rachel, hoping for Puckleberry, indifferent to Klaine/Brittany, hate Mary Sue-Oops, I mean, Marley Rose so freakin' much, have the same love/hate relationship with Kitty that I did with Santana. Usually, I would hate Kitty but since she's the only entertaining one between the Newbies. Marley is too...hmm, how do I put this? 'Oh, woe is me, I'm pretty and two boys want me after knowing me for a day but please feel sorry for me because not only am I poor, my mother is obese and she's being bullied by my fellow peers and so am I because I'm only capable of giving the sad puppy dog victim look, am dumb enough not to question the fact that only MY COSTUME doesn't fit but my other clothes fit perfectly fine, and asks another boy out because original boyfriend bailed on our date to do some stupid important thing that could change his life instead. Boo freakin' hoo.'**

**...Obviously, I do not like Marley Rose. They also forgot the hints that Santana is bulimic (an issue I will be adressing later on) which was passed off as a joke and Rachel once tried to make herself puke to be prettier and Mercedes wasn't eating once XD What about you? Who do you hate, who do you love? If you're a Marley lover, don't hate me XD**


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